Alagaesia's Hope
by RBR
Summary: During his second encounter with Barthandelus, Hope is mysteriously transported to a foriegn land, unlike anything he'd ever imagined. Will he be able to cope? and will he be ever reunited with his lost friends? Takes place after Brisinger
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first story on this site and I'm extremely excited. You might've noticed that I've this story M, that is because of later chapters that may contain Torture and Rape. I will warn you in my A/Ns if the chapters contain any of the forementioned. Please read, enjoy and review. **

Hope couldn't understand what had just happened. A second ago he was on Pulse fighting - with Lightning and the others, Barthandelus to the death. Now he's in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by what seemed like an endless scorching desert.

_Where the hell am I?_ Hope thought in sheer astonishment as he surveyed the scene, _and where are the others?_

"Light!" He called, "Snow! Vanille! Sazh! Fang!" However he was not rewarded by hearing the familiar voices of his friends. So he sat down on the searing sand, shocked by the enormity of the situation he was in. His gloved hand covered his face, blocking his view and granting him the comfort of blocking out reality. Even if it was just for a few seconds.

Millions of questions raced through his mind. What should he do? Or actually, what _could _he do to find his friends or even any sign of civilization. His fingers parted slightly, granting him a look at the yellow sand underneath his feet. Hope ran his hand through his now sweat-soaked hair, trying to concentrate on what he should do next.

_I should probably find some water_ he thought. _This desert is sucking me dry._ But a quick look around him confirmed that that was impossible. He couldn't see any sign of life, not even a single cactus. An idea suddenly formed in his mind, and he started shoveling the sand with his hand, until a hole about forty centimeters deep and twenty wide was created.

Hope aimed his hand at the hole and muttered, "Water" and the hole started to fill up with clear clean water. He drank from it as much as he could, relishing its freshness and coolness. "At least I wouldn't die of dehydration." Hope muttered.

Then he began making his way in the direction that, he hoped, would lead him out of this hell of a desert.

* * *

Two days later

Hope was not in a good mood. He'd spent the last two days walking aimlessly through the desert and now his feet hurt so much that he couldn't walk without limping. Also to add to his misery he was sunburned and had what seemed like a permanent headache.

"I don't want to see another grain of sand for the rest of my life!" He cried in frustration. _Great, now I'm talking to sand _he thought humorlessly. Then he stopped dead in his tracks.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing and he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Hope saw grass! Not endless piles of sand, but lush green grass! He ran in that direction and he saw trees, with fruits of all shapes and colours hanging from them. Hope never thought he'd be as happy as he was now to see a bunch of trees.

His happiness was short-lived.

He was so engrossed in the fact that he escaped the desert that he failed to notice that he was being watched until it was too late.

Hope's hands were wrenched from behind and held tightly, in a vice-like grip behind his back. He struggled to free himself but it was all in vain. He turned his head to look at his captor, and all colour drained from his face.

The creature holding him had a body similar to a human's; however that's where the similarities ended. The creature's skin was grey and it stood a little more than six feet in height. The head was the most hideous part of that creature; it had long curved lethal horn jutting out from both sides. With yellow eyes and sharp fangs that gleamed viciously when it smiled.

A clinking sound came from in front of Hope, and he turned his head to see a man clad in full body armour. With his sword drawn out.

"Who are you?" The stranger enquired rather harshly,"and what are you doing here?"

"My name's Hope and I was about to eat some of those fruits before you and your pal here rudely interrupted," Hope replied in irritation. He was determined to show this man that he was not afraid of him or his _pal_.

"What should we do with him?" The ugly creature asked with his loud rough voice. Hope was shocked; he didn't think that monster was capable of speech.

"What do you think _Urgal_?" Stranger spoke the last word like it was an insult. _Maybe it was, _Hope thought. "We take him to Stronghammer." he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The Urgal glared at the man and if glares could kill that man would be dead now. However he didn't object.

The teen wasn't going to let these two drag him to whoever Stronghammer was without a proper explanation, at least not without a fight. He suddenly jerked his hands upwards as strongly as he could. Luckily the Urgal did not expect this move and his hold on Hope slackened.

Hope took this opportunity. "Aeroga!" he shouted. As soon as the single word was spoken a small but powerful tornado formed. It sucked both the soldier and the Urgal into it and spun them wildly around its vortex.

The teen turned to leave, but a piercing pain from the back of his head stopped him from taking another step and left him barely conscious. Somehow the Urgal was able to hurl a medium-sized stone at Hope's head while being spun around by the tornado. He watched in satisfaction as the boy finally collapsed unconscious.

The miniature tornado stopped and both the soldier and Urgal fell brutally to the ground. The Urgal walked towards the teen's limp body and threw him over his shoulder then strode towards their camp with the soldier nervously following him.

* * *

The two soldiers strode into the camp drawing weird stares from their fellow soldiers, human and Urgal. It was the figure on the Urgal's shoulder that attracted those stares.

Ignoring the strange looks aimed at them, the odd pair made their way towards captain Stronghammer's tent. The human soldier who stood guard at the tent let them in easily enough, although he raised an eyebrow when he saw what the Urgal was carrying.

Roran Stronghammer was discussing the last raid his unit had successfully completed with his right hand man Carn, who was also the unit's magician, when the two soldiers entered. The Urgal Roran recognized him as Zwanger and the human was Hank.

"Hank, Zwanger aren't you supposed to be guarding the camp, and what the hell are you carrying!" Roran exclaimed, flabbergasted by the sight of the limp body the Urgal was carrying.

"That's the reason we came here, sir" Hank answered a little uneasily. "We saw him walking towards our camp, and when we asked him about what he was doing in this area he evaded our questions. We asked him to come with us to the camp so that you can deal with him sir, but he unleashed a hurricane at us. He would've escaped if Zwanger here didn't knock him out."

"So what you're telling us is that this boy can use magic," Carn said doubtfully. "And that he's powerful enough to manipulate wind and nearly defeat two of the Varden's finest soldiers." Hank lowered his gaze till he was staring at the ground shamefully.

"You're both excused," said Roran. "Oh, and leave the boy here"

Zwanger laid Hope down on the floor though not too gently, and left with Hank.

"What should we do?" Carn asked.

"Firstly you should heal him" Roran said, "The back of his head is bleeding."

Carn kneeled down next to Hope and laid his hand lightly on the damaged area. Then he muttered "Waise heill." The flesh started to mend itself and the wound closed.

"What next Stronghammer" Carn asked.

"We wait,"Roran replied and turned back to his work.

* * *

Hope woke up fifteen minutes later. During that time Carn had left to tend to his other duties.

"So you're finally awake" the man sitting on a chair next to him said. Hope was lying on the ground with what felt like a pillow underneath his head.

_No duh! _Hope thought. The man who spoke was also dressed in armour however without his helmet, so hope could see his brown hair, eyes and short beard.

"I'm Roran," said the man "what's your name?"

"Hope," he replied feeling a bit groggy.

"I'm going to ask you some questions and it's very important that you answer me honestly, is that okay with you?"

Hope nodded and sat up, still feeling that this whole situation is just a dream and that he is going to wake up any minute now and joke about it later with his friends.

"My first question is what were you doing when my soldiers found you today?"

"Nothing, I was just passing by."

"Then where were you headed?"

"I don't know…" Hope answered honestly.

"Alright then, where did you come from? Surda? Uru'baen?"

"The desert?" The teen answered uncertainly.

Roran didn't doubt that last answer; if the boy can really use magic then he could probably survive in the Hadarac desert for as long as he wanted, his cousin had done it a few times.

"So, I saved the most important question for last," Roran said gazing into the teen's eyes as if the answer lay somewhere inside. "Do you work for Galbatorix?"

"Who?"

"The king, king Galbatorix do you work for him?" Roran asked patiently.

"No," he honestly had no idea what the man was talking about. Also Surda and Uru'baen didn't ring any bells, he was certain there were no places called by these names on Pulse or Cocoon.

"So now is my turn to ask," Hope said eagerly. "Where am I?" this was the question he's been asking himself ever since this mess started, and now he would finally know the answer.

"You're in a camp on the western side of Lake Tudosten," Roran replied, guessing that maybe the boy had amnesia or something similar, after all how could anyone not know the accursed king of Alagaesia. An idea occurred to him and he stood up, fetched what looked like a worn out scroll from the table at the far side of the tent and handed it to Hope before returning to his seat.

Hope examined the piece of paper that he held in his hands. It was obviously a map of a place called Alagaesia. He could easily see Lake Tudosten next to the Hadarac desert, and then realization struck…

He was lucky extremely lucky; if he'd chosen another direction while he was in the desert he could have been lost in there forever, surrounded by an endless ocean of scorching sand dunes, with no food and little water.

However, time was the one thing Hope didn't have. He glanced at the brand on his wrist, which was barely visible under the scarf that he had tied over it, like he'd done every day since he'd got it. The red-eye in the middle was still closed and three arrows were still missing. But once the brand advances to its final stage he'll turn into a monstrous Cei'th, unless he completes his focus, which is impossible as long as he's here so far away from home.

The thought brought tears to Hope's eyes and he blinked furiously to keep them from falling. Roran was still with him and he would't cry in front of a stranger.

"What now?" Hope asked miserably.

"It depends, on whether you stay with us or leave," Roran replied gently. He had sensed the boy's sudden change in mood. "If you want to leave, then you can do so right now, no one will try to stop you and I'll give you directions to wherever you want to go. However, if you choose to stay, then you'll travel with us back to the Varden."

"What-?"

A blond man in his early twenties entered the tent at that moment. His blue eyes looked troubled but as soon as he saw that Hope was awake and well, he smiled kindly and sat opposite to him on the ground.

"How are you feeling?" He asked looking genuinely concerned.

"Fine, I guess." Hope replied timidly. He was taken aback by the man's actual concern for his well-being.

"Hope this is my right hand man Carn, Carn this is Hope." Roran introduced them.

"You still didn't answer my question," Hope told Roran.

"Ah yes, the Varden are a group of rebels whose sole aim is to overthrow the king. They are led by the Lady Nasuada."

"This unit is part of the Varden," Carn added.

"Why do you want to overthrow the king?" Hope asked, puzzled.

"Because he's an evil merciless man with a sorry excuse for a heart. He uses his power to control the people. He sets high taxes that people can barely pay. He imprisons and kills whomever he wants for no reason without even a trial." Roran spoke with obvious contempt and his brown eyes were filled with anguish like he was reminiscing a dreadful memory.

_He must have experienced these things to feel this furious, _Hope pondered.

"I'll stay," he said confidently.

"Okay but there is something that you must do if you were to stay," Hope didn't like the sound of that.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey everyone sorry for the long wait! **

**I'm absolutely flabbergasted lol! I never expected to have 47 views for this story it made my day. Thank you to everyone who've read Alagaesia's Hope and to show you how appreciative I am, I'm double updating today. Please Review and tell me if there is anything you want to happen in this story or if there is anything you've liked or didn't like. Constructive criticism welcomed.**

**One more thing, I'd like to thank hayden p576 for reviewing.**

**Now that that is done, on to the story.**

_Last time..._

_"I'll stay," Hope said confidently._

_"Okay but there is something that you must do if you were to stay," Roran said._

_Hope didn't like the sound of that._

"You'll have to let Carn into your consciousness to examine your memories."

"What? Why?" Hope asked. _Is that even possible?_ He thought, suddenly less sure than he'd been a moment ago.

"Because we can't trust you until you do," Said Carn uneasily. "Look, we're at war with the king and he'll try his best to crush us, for all we know you could be a spy working for him. I'm sorry Hope, but we can't afford to trust you unless we're absolutely sure that you don't work for Galbatorix."

"Okay, whatever."

"All I want you to do is stand up, empty your mind and relax, this shouldn't hurt." He said then moved to stand in front of Hope

Hope did what he was told. It was hard, with all the events of the past three days whizzing around his head, but he eventually managed it. He stood still for what felt like hours, and then he felt a presence inside his mind. It set immediately to work, moving swiftly from memory to memory and Hope could see what it saw. He saw his friends. He saw the fight with the fal'Cie Anima that gave him his focus and his brand. He saw the many battles that they fought on Gran Pulse. And most painful of all, he saw his mother's death as she fell from The Hanging Edge replayed again and again in his mind.

The presence left. But Hope could still see his mother's demise over and over again. The way she and Snow where hanging from the suspended bridge, he saw her let go of Snow's hand, and then she was falling into what seemed like an endless pit. He stood there for several seconds not moving a muscle. His gray green eyes gazing at Carn, but not really seeing him.

Carn seemed amazed and worried by what he witnessed in Hope's memories. He looked at Roran and nodded to show that Hope can be trusted. Then he moved to stand in front of the teen and hug him. He kept whispering "I'm sorry." to the boy and running his hand comfortingly through the boy's platinum blond locks, like everything bad that had ever happened to the teen was his fault. Hope did not respond. He just stood there, staring into nothingness.

After what felt like hours, Carn let go of Hope and saw the boy smiling timidly at him.

"Thanks," He said shyly. "Don't know why I zoned out like that."

"It's alright," Carn said smiling back.

"If you two lovers are done grinning like idiots you can go and help with making dinner," Roran said teasingly.

"What?! No!" Hope and Carn both said in unison, their faces as red as beet.

Roran couldn't stop himself laughing at them. Carn and Hope were also laughing at each other. The stress that accumulated a few minutes ago was all gone.

* * *

Dinner was cheerful enough. They all sat around a big fire and Hope met the other soldiers and helped cook what looked like, and hoped was, venison. It tasted surprisingly delicious, much to the soldiers delight. Hope also noticed the tension that existed between humans and the Urgals. They were practically throwing death glares at each other. Roran and Carn were the only people not to notice, or if they did, they chose to ignore them. The two soldiers who attacked Hope apologized but their tones weren't sorry at all. But he didn't care.

After dinner Hope walked over to the lake's shore and sat there, mesmerized by the moon's beauty. It reminded him of his home, of cocoon. A lonely sphere, surrounded by endless darkness. The light that it gave out seemingly insignificant against the mass of black that dominated the sky. Yet Hope couldn't help but feel strangely comforted by the dim glow. It reminded him of his namesake, of how he should cling to whatever glimmer of hope he had in order to face his grim fate.

He lowered his gaze to the lake infront of him. The water reflected the beautiful full moon on its surface perfectly like a huge mirror. A light breeze blew across the landscape, ruffeling his platinum blond hair and carrying the soft hooting of the owls on the nearby trees. It was all so peaceful, so picturesque that he hoped that time would freeze and he'd be stuck in that moment for a while longer. But like everything that we desire it didn't last.

He heard footsteps approaching from behind.

"What is it Carn?" Hope said suddenly in a monotonic voice.

"How did you know it was me?" Carn replied surprised and slightly annoyed that he couldn't sneak up on a teenager.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Hope said with a slight hint of sarcasm while tapping his head slightly with his index finger. "You want an explanation to what you saw."

Carn sat down next to Hope and they sat in companionable silence for a little while until Carn spoke.

"How come you can use magic?" He asked a little hesitantly. "Did anyone teach you?"

"I thought you knew everything about me now."

"No. When I entered your consciousness, I didn't do it so that we can find out everything about you. I did it just to see if there are any hints as to why we shouldn't trust you. For example, if I saw Galbatorix or one of his men in one of your memories then I would've been suspicious. But I didn't see anything that even links you to the empire."

They lapsed into silence again and all that could be heard was the faint whispering of the wind as it moved across the land.

"Fal'Cie." Said Hope suddenly.

"What?"

"I guess you saw me fighting Barthandelus. He's a Fal'cie."

Carn nodded to show that he did.

"They are the reason I use magic."

"How does that work?" Carn asked he didn't see this in any of Hope's memories because Hope had deliberately tried to forget the day he and the others were branded.

Hope didn't know if he should answer the question. _Can I trust Carn with that information? _He thought. _If I tell him about my brand, then I'll have to tell him about the I'm-gonna-turn-to-Cie'th part. Ugh! This is really frustrating! _

After a few minutes of debating with himself, Hope finally decided to trust Carn. He raised his forearm, and removed the little scarf tied around his wrist so that the blonde man could see the brand by the moonlight.

"A fal'Cie turned me to a l'Cie and gave me a focus to complete. When I was given the focus, I also received this brand. It's like a time limit for completing my focus. If I complete my focus before the brand advances to its final stage, then I'll turn to crystal and live eternally, or so they say."

"What happens if you don't," Carn inquired almost afraid of what the answer might be.

"I turn to Cie'th," Hope sighed.

"Cie'th?"

"Yeah, they're monsters that wonder around aimlessly destroying everything in their path."

"How much time do you have left?" Carn asked anxiously.

"Months, days or even seconds. I don't know," Hope answered dejectedly. "The only thing that I know is that I can't complete it as long as I am here."

Carn stood up and looked into Hope's gray eyes. "Then we'll just have to find a way to get you back," he said determinedly. "And I think I know one."

"Seriously!" Hope couldn't keep the excitement from his voice.

"I just have to make sure that it'll work."

"How?"

"Don't worry, it's late and you should get some sleep. I'll tell you in the morning."

Hope started to protest but a yawn escaped him. "Okay I get it. But where am I supposed to sleep?"

"We set up a new tent for you, it's the one next to Roran's"

Hope stood up with renewed hope in the future he turned to the man who had been so kind to him from the moment they had met and said "'Night!" before running towards the camp hoping that his plan, whatever it was, would work.

* * *

Carn stayed near the lake for a little while after Hope left, enjoying its peacefulness before returning to the camp. He walked near the fire they set up earlier and saw that all the soldiers were asleep, except the ones keeping watch. Then he headed towards Stronghammer's tent. He knocked on the wooden pole to his right and entered when Roran gave him permission.

Roran was sitting behind a table at the back of the tent, working on finding the safest route back to the Varden. He looked up when Carn entered. Carn never came to his tent this late unless he had something important to discuss.

"Sir!" Carn addressed Roran respectfully.

"Yes, Carn." Roran replied encouraging him to continue.

"I need to ask you a question and it's important that you answer me, sir."

"Carn you don't need to call me sir except in front of the other soldiers, what is it?"

"It's about your cousin, er- no actually it's about his dragon."

"Saphira?"

"Yes, can she transport people very long distances, I mean beyond Alagaesia?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just need to know, it's important."

Roran gave Carn an annoyed look, but then sighed and replied "I'm sorry Carn, I don't know. You'll have to ask her or Eragon that question. But I've heard that a dragon's magic is really powerful, so it's possible that she could do it."

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"Is everything ready for our departure tomorrow morning." Roran asked just to break the silence.

"Yes everything is packed and ready," Carn confirmed. "How long do you think we'll take to get to the Varden?"

"About four days, if not more."

"Alright, thanks Roran and goodnight." Said Carn as he turned to leave.

"Goodnight Carn."

Carn left to his tent worried that he might not be able to help Hope after all but determined that he'd at least try.


	3. Chapter 3

Hope wake up. Hope. Hope!" Carn called sternly.

"Huh?" Hope was still sleepy and he didn't even take his head off his makeshift pillow.

Carn had had enough he'd been trying to wake the teen up for the past thirty minutes but all he got were grunts and murmurs from the sleeping boy. So he decided on the only course of action in these circumstances.

He pointed his hand at a bucket filled with water near the improvised mattress Hope was sleeping on then whispered, "Reisa du adurna." The water started to rise from the bucket and Carn directed the blob of water so that it was now directly above Hope's head. He then released the flow of magic and watched, in barely concealed satisfaction, as the blob splashed on Hope's head. The boy yelped in surprise and shook his head like a wet dog, trying to get rid of the water that now soaked his platinum blond hair.

He turned to see who dared do this to him, his eyes ablaze, only to find Carn laughing his head off. The sight fueled the anger that had started bubbling up inside of him.

"Watera!" He exclaimed.

The laughter died down. Carn was soaked from head to toe by a splash of water that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Now it was Hope's turn to cackle at Carn's sight. Carn, finally understanding what just happened started laughing so hard that his sides hurt.

"So… what did you… want?" Hope asked, between fits of laughter.

"Oh, we're leaving in a few hours and I thought you'd like some breakfast before we go." Carn said suddenly serious, "But after what you just did, I think that I shouldn't have bothered."

Hope ate his breakfast alone since all the soldiers had already had theirs. It was a mixture of fruits collected from nearby trees. Luckily no one had witnessed the water fight between him and Carn. They both had dried themselves using magic before exiting the tent. Otherwise they'd have all twenty-five soldiers in the unit snickering at them and they had more than enough of that this morning.

After breakfast Roran walked over to Hope, leading a black horse behind him.

"Do you ride?" He asked.

"What?"

"Horses, of course." Roran said incredulously.

"I've never even seen one before and you expect me to be able to ride them," Replied Hope eyeing the animal uneasily.

"Then I think you'll just have to learn along the way."

_Or I could just ride Alexander, _Hope thought_. But that would attract too much attention. _He sighed mentally and looked around him. Other soldiers have packed everything and were awaiting Roran's command to move. He also saw that all the human soldiers were on horses but the Urgals, by the looks of it, would be traveling on foot and he made a mental note to ask Carn about that later.

"Okay fine, how do I ride this thing?" Hope surrendered finally.

"Don't call her that," Roran said in irritation, "_This thing_ is our only method of transport in Alagaesia. Now to get on to her you'll have to move to her left side and place your foot in the stirrup, then haul yourself up until you're seated in the saddle."

Hope did what he was told and it was surprisingly harder than it looked.

"If you want her to walk you kick her with your heels on both sides. If you want her to move faster you kick again a bit harder and you shorten the reins. If you want to stop just pull the rains towards you and lean back a bit and she'll stop."

"Is that it?" Hope asked a bit nervously.

"No, this mare is yours now so you can name her."

Hope thought for a while. Then finally decided to call the horse Nora, In memory of his dead mother.

"I'll name her Nora."

"That's a fine name Hope." Roran said, giving the horse a pat on the neck. As he turned to leave he remembered something. "Oh, and Hope? Keep your heels down in the stirrups or you'll fall off when Nora speeds up." He smirked at Hope's horrified expression then left to yell at some soldier for slacking off.

Carn joined him a little later as they started to move out, also on a horse although his was gray. They walked next to each other away from the other soldiers. Watching the terrain change as they covered more and more ground. The trees had started to lessen by every mile they covered.

"Why are the Urgals on foot?" Hope eventually spoke.

"Because first, they can keep up with us on horses even if we were galloping. And second, no horse can carry an Urgal and survive." Carn added, grinning.

However, Hope didn't smile. "Carn you said you'd tell me in the morning and its now nearly the afternoon." He said.

"Listen, Hope. I'm really not sure if my plan would work and I don't want you hanging onto false hope." Carn said then he winced as he realized how weird his sentence sounded.

"I don't care, just tell me what your big plan is." Hope said frustration clear in his voice.

"Okay I'll tell you tonight, I promise."

Hope nodded but didn't say anything. They were now walking in open grassland with not a tree in sight. Carn's eyes suddenly widened in fear.

"What is it?" Hope asked.

"I just sensed fifty of Galbatorix's soldiers up ahead," Carn said quickly then he sped up to tell Roran about the threat.

Hope watched Roran's expression turn from worry to horror as Carn told him about the threat. Roran then signalled for the soldiers to stop and Hope drew closer to hear what Roran was about to say.

"I have just received information that there are fifty of Galbatorix's soldiers coming this way. We have to act quickly if we are to take them by surprise, since they outnumber us nearly two to one; thankfully they have no magicians with them."

There were murmurs of agreement from the soldiers so Roran continued, "At my signal we will charge at them and we'll try to end this battle as soon as possible with minimum causalities. Carn your job is to stay here and heal the wounded, Hope you will stay with Carn." Hope was about to protest, but Carn shot him a look that clearly told him not to.

"Ready yourselves." Roran said and all the soldiers pulled out their weapons. They ranged from swords and maces to bows and spears.

Roran waited patiently until he could barely see the silhouettes of the enemy, his heart pounding and adrenaline pumping in his veins in anticipation of the upcoming battle. He raised his hammer and yelled, "CHARGE!"

**A/N: So what will happen next? Will Hope reach the Varden without any major hitches? Will Saphira be able to help Hope? Keep reading to find out.**

**Hope you enjoyed this installment of Alagaesia's Hope, R&R.**

**RBR **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! It feels like a long time since I last updated, although I'm pretty sure that was a week ago. Anyway here's a knew chapter of Alagaesia's Hope, hope you enjoy it. However before that can I make a small request? I've had 100 hits for this story, 100! I'm truly baffled by the number of readers, but I wish that I had more reviews. Well, because they make me update faster and I'd really LOVE to know what you think. So please review.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize...**

* * *

The human soldiers kicked their horses and rushed in the direction of the enemy, weapons at the ready with the Urgals bringing up the rear. The sight of the charging soldiers horrified the empire soldiers and it took them precious time to assemble themselves for battle. By the time they were ready, Roran's soldiers were already on them and five of their soldiers were dead. However, they continued fighting knowing that even if they surrendered and survived, the king would order their families' death.

Hope watched the battle unfold before him. It looked like they were winning and he was happy for that, but he also felt sympathy for all the dead soldiers whose bodies now littered the battle field. He could practically smell the stench of death in the air, and he wasn't even close to the fray. As he watched, three empire soldiers broke free from the fray and came hurtling down towards Hope and Carn.

_Finally a chance to prove myself,_ Hope thought with delight and he pulled out his boomerang.

"Leave them to me," Hope told Carn, confidence clear in his voice.

"Wha-?! No way, these are fully trained, lethal empire soldiers." Carn said disbelievingly. "You can't possibly take them all down by yourself."

"Watch me," Was all Hope said before kicking Nora and dashing towards the soldiers. When the soldiers were in range Hope aimed his boomerang and threw it as hard as he could. The boomerang traveled in a perfect arc knocking all three soldiers, who were stupid enough to stay very close to each other, off their horses.

"Thandaga!" Hope yelled and lightning bolts struck all three soldiers leaving them quite dead. They didn't even have time to cry out.

Deafening silence descended on the battlefield. Everyone had seen the bolts hit the three soldiers and they couldn't quite believe that there is someone, strong enough to make lightning bolts appear out of nowhere with not a cloud in sight. Then all hell broke loose as the empire soldiers finally realized that there is no chance of winning with a magician that powerful with the Varden. They were desperately trying to escape, their families forgotten due to the shock they were experiencing.

Eventually the Varden soldiers were able to eliminate all the empire's soldiers. None of the Varden was killed and only three were wounded. Carn tended to those first, and with some help from Hope all soldiers fully recovered and were ready to continue their journey to the Varden.

* * *

The sun had set and the unit camped out near a hill for the night, hoping that it would protect them from the cold wind. They ate dinner in silence, too worn out to even think about speaking. Hope was summoned after dinner to Roran's tent and as soon as he entered the tent he knew that he was in trouble.

Roran was sitting on a chair at the back of the tent, but he stood up as soon as Hope entered. His eyes told Hope nothing but he could see the way Roran's fists clenched then unclenched again. It was clear that what he was about to say, bothered him.

"Hope did Carn ask you to take on the three soldier's earlier today," Roran said jumping straight to the point.

"No." Hope responded still unsure what Roran was getting at.

"Then why did you?"

"I wanted to prove myself to you, sir."

"Hope what you did today was disobeying a direct order from your superior," Roran said clearly unhappy about what he was about to say next. "The punishment for insubordination is fifty lashes, at least, in public."

Hope froze. _Fifty lashes! Can a human even survive being whipped fifty times? _He thought in disbelief and horror.

"When?" Hope said lifelessly.

Roran was flabbergasted. Here is a boy whose just been told that he's going to be whipped not once or twice but fifty times, you'd expect him to argue and probably plead to be spared. Instead he asks when he's going to be whipped. The boy was either really brave or really crazy.

"When we get back to the Varden, Lady Nasuada will make the decision." Roran said in a defeated tone. Then an idea started to form in his head. "The reason behind this punishment is to ensure that soldiers always obey orders, so that the relationship between a soldier and his commander is based on respect and a little fear." He said more to himself than Hope.

"Yeah, so?" Hope still didn't know what Roran's line of thoughts was leading to.

"Here's what we will do…" Roran explained his plan to Hope and watched as his expression changed from surprise to satisfaction to worry.

"Are you sure this would work?"

"Not at all, but it's all I've got."

"So when do we do this?"

"Tomorrow night, after dinner."

Hope nodded and left the tent. There was nothing really that he could do but trust in Roran's judgment.

* * *

Carn was sitting on the ground, waiting for Hope when he entered his tent. One candle on the floor in front of Carn provided the only lighting in the sparsely furnished tent. Hope sat opposite Carn feeling slightly excited, after all the man was about to tell him what his plan for him was like he promised.

"What do you now about the Dragon Riders?" Carn questioned.

"Never heard the phrase before." Hope genuinely had no idea what the man was talking about. He'd heard about dragons, they were the mighty winged creatures of myth, but he'd never heard of Dragon Riders.

Carn sighed. _This is going to be tougher than I expected,_ he thought. "A person whom a dragon's egg hatches for is called a Dragon Rider. There used to be hundreds of them in the past, but now only three remain. The king, a traitor named Murtagh and Eragon Shadeslayer."

Hope was still confused. "So? How will that help me?"

"A dragon's magic is extremely powerful. It allows it to do things that we think are impossible."

Hope smiled; he finally understood what Carn had in mind. "Okay, so where are we gonna find ourselves a dragon?"

"Of course we can't go to the king and Murtagh works for him, that leaves us with Eragon, who is by the way Roran's cousin, and his dragon Saphira."

"Where do we find them?" Hope could barely keep the enthusiasm from his voice.

"Eragon is currently with the Varden, so as soon as we get there we'll ask Saphira if she could transport you back to Pulse."

"We'll ask the dragon?"

"Aye, dragons are incredibly intelligent. Don't make the mistake of treating a dragon like a normal beast or it will be your last."

"Dragons and Urgals what is this place fairytale land? All that's missing are the elves and dwarves," Hope laughed sarcastically but when he saw the look on Carn's face he groaned loudly. "Elves and dwarves do exist don't they?" Carn grinned and nodded in response.

"Dwarves are you know, short and they usually have long beards. Never underestimate a dwarf's strength, because without them there would be no Varden. They also love gemstones and they live under the Beor Mountains, or used to before the attack on Feinster. Oh and some of them can use magic. " Carn drank some water from a water skin before he continued. "Elves have either black or silver hair. They're sometime called the fair folk for reasons obvious to anyone who has seen them and they are very powerful when it comes to magic. Also, they are a very old _species_, for a want of a better word, nearly as old as the dragons. Therefore, they can be very deceiving, like they'll tell you something while meaning something else entirely. Oh and their looks are misleading too. So beware."

"Great! Any other magical creatures I need to know about?" Hope asked exasperatedly.

"Yeah but that'll take too long." Carn said with a small smile. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Hope decided to break it.

"What if she can't do it?" Hope asked suddenly.

"Then you'll go to Du Weldenvarden and you'll live there with the elves. You'll fit right in. what with all the magic, silvery hair and everything else," Carn suggested teasingly.

Hope laughed and punched Carn in the arm playfully. Then he said seriously "Say that again and you will drown. Now get out I need some sleep."

Hope lay down on his makeshift mattress and he was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes. Carn stood up and left, praying that his plan would work. He'd really hate to see what would happen to Hope if it didn't.

* * *

The next day was business as usual. Carn woke Hope up, but this time there was no need for the water bucket. They ate breakfast, packed everything and rode their horses, trying to cover as many leagues as possible before nightfall. The terrain still hasn't changed the ground was covered in a sea of grass, and there was a distinctive lack of trees.

At midday they stopped for lunch and to let the horses rest. Roran was talking to Carn a little distance from Hope and the other soldiers, but it was still far enough that they couldn't hear what the two were saying. After a few minutes of hushed conversation, Carn gestured for Hope to join them. Hope complied wondering what was so important that the other soldiers shouldn't hear.

"Hope as you know we've been on the road for quite a lot of time and were running short on supplies," Roran spoke.

"Sorry sir, but that's your problem not mine." Hope replied, with a confused smile.

Roran glared at Carn once he saw that he was smirking. "I know," Roran replied rather impatiently. "My point is that we're nearing the town of Melian, we should be arriving there soon. So I'm planning on sending people into town to buy provisions. The reason I called you here is to ask you if you want to go."

"Oh I get it. You think that your group would look less suspicious if I went with them. After all, what damage could a teenager do?" Hope said the last bit slyly.

Carn and Roran were pleased; they didn't have to explain everything after all.

"So are you up for it?" Carn asked.

"Yeah, sure. Who else is going?"

"Me, Stronghammer, Henryk and Tory." Carn counted them off on his fingers.

"Cool, but what's my job going to be?"

"Sticking to Carn like glue." Roran grinned.

Hope huffed in response and walked away, muttering about commanders that make you feel useless.

* * *

An hour later Hope was back in the saddle, making his way, with the rest of the unit, to Melian. He could see Carn ahead of him seemingly lost in thought and he sped up to join him.

"I have a question." Hope said as he drew level with Carn.

"And I'm very good, thank you for asking." Carn replied sarcastically.

"Sorry." Hope said sheepishly

"What do you want to ask?"

"Can you teach me how to protect my mind?"

"Now?" Carn asked uncertainly. He looked into the teen's eyes and saw nothing but stubborn determination.

Hope beamed. "No time like the present. And I thought it could really come in handy in the future."

"Okay fine." Carn thought about what he was going to say next for a while "Um, Basically, you concentrate on something really hard, could be a memory or something that you see, to stop an intruder from gaining access into your thoughts. Trust me, it's more complicated than it sounds."

"May I try?"

"Sure, tell me when you're ready and I'll check your defenses."

Hope struggled to clear his mind and to choose a particular memory, but when he did, he let that memory wash over him and veil his mind. He had recalled a day in Archylte Steppe, with him, Lightning, Snow, Fang, Sazh and Vanille, fighting against two Behemoth Kings. Hope remembered the heat of the battle, his friends' smiles of encouragement, and the joy of victory. He let it wash over him and he basked in the peace that that single memory had brought to him.

"I'm ready." He said finally when he was done. Immediately Hope could feel Carn's presence inspecting the barrier he'd placed around his mind for any sign of weakness. Carn prodded and pushed but the barrier held.

Eventually Carn withdrew from Hope's mind satisfied that the teen can protect his mind should the need arise. "Well done, I've never seen someone master that technique in such a little time." He congratulated Hope.

"Thanks."

"You really miss them don't you?" Carn asked, concerned.

"Yeah more than anything." Hope replied sincerely.

"If it'll make you feel better you can tell me about them."

So Hope started describing each of his friends and telling Carn, although not too modestly, about everything they have accomplished together. Hope didn't think that talking about his friends would make him feel better, but surprisingly it did. It made him look forward to seeing them and gave him hope that that future is not as far away as he had originally thought.

Hope was in the middle of describing the fight with Barthandelus when Roran yelled, "Halt!"

The soldiers gathered around Roran to listen to Roran's instructions.

"As you know we have been running low on supplies," The crowd nodded in agreement. "Luckily, Melian is just beyond this hill." He gestured to the grass-covered hill behind him. "So I'm going into town with Carn, Henryk, Tory, and Hope to buy supplies. We shan't be gone for long and I trust that you'll stay out of sight and not cause any problems. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers exclaimed in perfect unison.

An hour later Hope was walking towards town with, Roran, Carn, Henryk and Tory all dressed in 'normal' civilian clothes. He silently notied that Roran wore a robe with a hood covering his head, but didn't question the man about it.

As they neared town, they could see that an outer wooden wall surrounded the settlement. Two guards, dressed in empire soldiers' attire, stood at the gate and each of them held a long pike in their hand that they crossed as soon as they saw the group walking towards them, effectively blocking the entrance.

The guard on their left spoke in a rough, guttural voice, "Identify yourselves."

"M' name's Carn an' those're me cousins, we're on o'r way to visit o'r family 'n Belatona." Carn lied smoothly, putting on an accent.

"What is the purpose of your visit?"

"Buyin' provisions."

"Go on in, but if you cause any trouble I'll have you hanged." The man threatened then signaled to the other guard to remove his pike.

As soon as the group entered the town Roran pulled them aside away from the gate. "We're in, but don't let your guard down just yet, we have work to do." Roran looked at Henryk and Tory then spoke. "You two are in charge of buying food, buy as much as you can without raising suspicion, and be back here in an hour." He handed the pair some money and they left making their way to the nearest butcher's. He then turned to Carn and Hope. "Carn you'll buy herbs and any other medical supplies that you need."

"And what will you do?" Hope asked.

"I need to gather some news about the empire and the whereabouts of the Varden. Don't ask me how just go, and be back in one hour." Roran instructed then left. He was immediately lost in the crowd of people filling the streets.

Hope could examine the town properly for the first time since they entered. It was a small town with most houses and shops built out of wood and some out of stone. The place was teeming with people. Young children played in the streets, groups of men hung together going about their work and discussing the day's events. The women were shopping for necessities and yelling at their children to behave. It was all so normal that Hope felt like an outsider intruding on these people's lives. He no longer belonged, not after everything he'd seen and all the lives he'd taken...

He was literally shaken away from that train of thoughts by Carn. "Hey Hope is something wrong?" Hope shook his head in response. "Okay. Remember keep your head down and don't talk to anyone unless absolutely necessary. Oh, and if, God forbid, you get lost return here, this is the place I'll check first." Hope nodded showing that he understood.

They were walking down the streets looking for a herbal shop that seemed impossible to find with all the shops looking like near carbon copies of each other. But something interrupted their search. The 'something' being two drawings of Roran and his cousin Eragon stuck on a notice board near the town's center.

"Wanted dead or alive," Hope read out loud as they approached the bulletin board. "What's an earldom?"

"Never mind, let's find this shop as fast as possible so we can leave before Roran is recognized." Carn whispered to Hope as discretely as possible.

They moved quickly with a new sense of urgency. Carn was in the lead with Hope a few paces behind him, trying to put as much distance as possible between the posters and themselves while still searching for the Herbal shop.

They were passing by an alleyway when a group of men walked in front of Hope, blocking Carn from view as they made their way into the alley. When they had finally passed Hope saw that Carn, was gone, lost in what seemed like an endless sea of people. Hope didn't even have anytime to search for him, because at that moment someone whispered in his ear "slytha!" and he knew no more.

* * *

It was less than a minute later when Carn realized that hope was missing.

"Hope!" He called out but to no avail.

He backtracked hoping to spot the teen, but without much success. It was like the boy had vanished in to thin air. _He probably returned to the entrance just like I told him. _Carn thought hopefully and made his way back. Praying all the way that he was right. He didn't even want to think of the alternative…

* * *

**I admit I was nervous about this chapter since, I feel, it's too long. However I couldn't cut it in half because I wanted to Jump to the action as soon as possible, which by the way starts next chapter. I can't wait!**

**Also I have a challenge to all of you Inheritance Cycle fans: What is the name of the group that kidnapped Hope? Everyone who answers correctly will get a special mention in the next chapter in addition to virtual cookies! =D**

**Hint: Eragon's mother used to work with them.**

**Thank you Reviewers!**

**RBR**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! I'm back and here's a brand new chapter of Alagaisa's Hope and I have to admit that I'm nervous since this is my first shot at Non-con and torture. Please review and tell me what you think, it would be extremely useful for me if you do. Anyway, Hope you enjoy it and review =D**

**Oh and thank you to hayden p576 for reviewing and getting the right answer for last chapter's question! Also I'd like to thank all of you who have favourited this story or put it on their alert list. (172 Hits! Oh Yeah!)**

**Disclaimer: Yeah I know I forgot to put this in previous chapters but here it is: I own nothing you recognize...**

**Warnings: Torture and Non-con... yep that's about it!**

* * *

Hope woke up feeling groggy and a little dazed. He was sitting on a highly uncomfortable chair with his hands tied tightly with thick rope to the armrests. The rough rope cut into his skin, causing his wrists to bleed when he moved them and to top it all up he was gagged. Having taken all this in he felt the cold claws of fear gripping his anxious heart, _where am I? Why am I tied up? Where is Carn? _Hope thought in alarm.

The room he was held in was made of wood, literally. The floor, walls, door and ceiling were all wooden. There was a wooden table in the left corner of the room, and on it were what looked like a set of knives. Lots of them in all shapes and sizes, all looked lethal and Hope immediately clamped down on his imagination before he started thinking of all the things that could be done to him with these instruments of death.

Five minutes had passed agonizingly slowly before Hope heard a door open behind him. "You are finally awake." A voice behind him spoke.

Hope heard the sound of footsteps as the man who'd spoken walked till he was standing directly in front of him. The man looked like he was in his early thirties with jet-black hair and dark brown merciless eyes. He reached out with his hand, and lifted Hope's chin up so that he was now looking into the boy's gray-green eyes. Hope tried to flinch away from the man's touch but the man held him tightly, his fingers digging into the boy's cheeks. "I'll take the gag off now, try anything and you're dead." And as if to emphasize his captor's speech, a knife flew from the table and imbedded itself just inches away from Hope's left foot.

Hope froze in terror. _If the man was truly this powerful he could kill me even before I had a chance to utter a spell._ He thought, his heart sinking with dread. The man removed the gag however not very gently.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Hope asked although unsure if he wanted to know the answer. To his credit his voice didn't shake, much.

"You can call me Sidric. But enough with the pleasantaries, I want information."

"About what?"

"Roran Stronghammer."

"Who?" Hope asked playing dumb. He was not going to betray Roran not after everything he's done for him.

"Listen _boy_, we could do this the easy way or the hard way." Sidric warned. "You could tell me where Stronghammer is now, we know he's gone on a raid somewhere near this area, and I'll let you leave unharmed. If you don't then I'll pry into your mind and search every thought and memory, till I find what I want and trust me I'll make it as painful as possible."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"We will see about that." The man grinned evilly.

Hope steeled himself. He knew that any minute now the man would try to break into his mind, so he stared at the wooden floor, memorizing every detail and filling his mind with it. Fortunately, he was done before the man broke into his mind. Sidric rammed into Hope's barriers and it took all of the teen's concentration to fend off his attacks.

It seemed like centuries later when the presence withdrew from his mind. Hope heaved a sigh of relief thankful that the attack on his brain ended. But his relief didn't last long. While he was congratulating himself, his captor had walked over to the table, picked a particularly lethal looking dagger with a sharp serrated edge and was now walking back slowly towards the boy. Enjoying the way the teen's gray eyes widened when he saw the knife and his frantic but futile struggling.

* * *

Carn ran all the way back to the gate hoping against hope that he would find the teen there. But he didn't. He stood there in disbelief scanning the area while thinking of where Hope could've gone.

"You're early, did you manage to buy everything you need?" Roran's cheerful voice came from behind. Then realizing that a certain blond headed teenager was missing, he asked, "Where is Hope?"

Carn turned to face Roran the worry evident in his eyes. "I don't know…" he whispered.

"You told him to come here if you got separated, right?" Carn nodded. "Then he should be on his way here as we speak."

"I don't know Roran. I have this feeling that he's in trouble, really big trouble."

"We can go look for him if it'll make you feel better, you search with your mind and I'll search with my eyes. Don't worry we'll find him." With that said, they set out towards the town searching every building, street and alleyway.

* * *

Hope howled in pain. The serrated edge of the knife was cutting into his shoulder, ripping through the fabric of his clothes and staining them in the crimson red of his blood. Waves of agony spread throughout his body numbing all thoughts except the ones related to the torture he's experiencing. The man holding the knife was dragging it as slowly as possible across the teen's right shoulder, relishing every second of pain that the boy experienced.

When his master, a member of the king's Black Hand, told him that he'd be pursuing Roran Stronghammer he'd never thought that he'd be having this much fun. He had seen the boy by the notice board earlier today, and he had seen the flicker of recognition that passed through the teen's eyes as he examined Stronghammer's drawing. He knew then that this was an opportunity that he couldn't miss. After all, how often did he get to interrogate a child? And a very attractive one at that.

After he made his eighth cut on the boy's body he paused, he didn't want him to faint this soon. _Where would the fun in that be? _The man thought amusedly. He looked down to see that the boy was glaring at him defiantly. Honestly, that boy is getting on his nerves, why couldn't he just surrender, and give him the information he wanted. _Maybe I should teach him who's in control here_, he thought as he punched the boy hard on the abdomen. He was satisfied to hear the groan, which Hope had been trying so hard to hold, escape.

"Now, are you going to give me the information I require?" He asked, softly stroking the boy's pale cheek.

But the blonde wasn't falling for the change in tactic. He wrenched his head away from the man's grasp. "No." Was all Hope managed to say. He was still winded from the blow he had just received and could barely breath much less speak.

"Okay then, how about a different approach." The man said in mock emotion, leaning closer to the boy, so close that Hope could see the tiny red blood vessels in the man's eyes. The man placed his hand intimately on the blonde's chest, directly over a tear in the material caused by a cut that he had inflicted minutes ago. He could sense the boy's rapid and erratic pulse and the warm blood seeping onto his hands. He felt the warm soft skin underneath his groping hands, encouraging him to carry out what he had in his sick mind.

Hope watched with growing horror as the man continued to advance, getting ever closer by the second. The teen knew what the man's intentions were and resisted as much as he could in his bound state. He turned his head away from the man, wishing desperately that he could move. That his mind wasn't so clouded by pain so that he could try to use his magic. But the magician's hand came up and clutched the back of the boy's head, returning it to its original position and holding it there.

Hope let out a small uncontrollable whimper as he realized that their lips were only a few centimeters apart.

Now a few millimeters…

Now barely touching…

Hope shut his eyes and mouth as tightly as he could, awaiting the inevitable…

A pair of cold chapped lips were suddenly forced against his and he gasped in disgust and surprise. His captor took full advantage of this, his tongue roughly exploring the teen's open mouth. Hope tried to resist the man. He shook his head violently trying to dislodge the man's lips from his own. But that didn't work because the magician reached out and cupped his hand behind the boy's head, steadying him and pulling him deeper into the one sided kiss.

Sidric pulled back. His need for air overriding his pleasure.

Then reaching out with his free hand, he traced his fingers slowly down the blonde's neck. His hand took hold of the collar of Hope's shirt and pulled it away slightly, revealing the pale skin beneath. The boy's breath hitched and he sat rigidly as the man settled on his knees and pressed his body against the teen. Their torso's were touching and his encroaching body fitted between the teen's legs, so close that Sidric could actually feel the boy's thumping heart. He lowered his head and placed his intruding lips on the junction between Hope's neck and shoulder, licking, sucking and biting in a mock act of affection. His free hand slipped inside the teen's shirt fondling him. Rubbing at his stomach and chest, drawing desperate moans from the boy.

"P-please, l-let me go." Hope pleaded and felt hot tears flowing freely from his tortured eyes as he fought in whatever way he could, but every time he did the man slapped him in retribution or if he was really annoyed, he'd use the blade in his hand and cut him.

Sidric finally pulled away. He looked on as the boy sobbed, glad to have finally broken him. He lifted his arm, his hand hovering inches away from the blonde's bruised cheek and watched in satisfaction as he flinched, his sobs becoming more frantic.

"Listen to me carefully for I won't repeat," he said in a low menacing voice. "I will ask you one last time, if you do not answer or I sense that you're lying," He paused. "things will get more… _interesting _shall I say?" he emphasized this by leaning in and laying his hand on the squirming boy's clothed crotch slightly pushing the delicate skin as if stroking it. The boy suddenly stopped moving, staring at him in an expression of helpless horror. "P-please…" Hope stuttered.

The black haired man smirked in response and asked "You like it? You want me to carry on? All you have to do is tell me and I'll gladly comply." The boy shook his head furiously not trusting himself to speak. "Where is Roran Stronghammer?" Sidric asked again impatiently, his groping hand moving threateningly up to the boy's waistband.

Hope remained silent, fully aware of the man's rough hand hovering above the fly of his trousers. However he couldn't bring himself to betray his friend even if the consequences were going to be severe. Sidric hissed in annoyance "Insolent fool! Why do you continue to protect him? Why?"

Silence. Hope's quiet whimpers were the only sound that could be heard in the scarce room.

"Answer me!" the man bellowed finally losing his patience "or I swear that I'll make you feel pain that you can't even imagine. I will take you somewhere far away where no one will ever find you and you'll be mine. Mine! I'll do whatever I want to you and no one is going to save you, not even Eragon Shadeslayer himself. You will be my personal fuck toy…" His captor continued to rant, his eyes lighting up in sheer joy and madness, telling a shocked Hope about all the things that he would do to him. Every insinuation was more terrifying and more sickening than the one before.

"Fine, we'll see how defiant you will be after I'm done with you." The man's hands started unbuttoning Hope's trousers and the boy shut his eyes as a wave of dizziness threatened to claim him and drag him back into unconsciousness.

The door flew open.

Sidric whirled around and saw two men running inside. One of them, He recognized as his target Roran Stronghammer. The other, was the blonde man he'd seen at the bulletin board with the teen. Sidric reacted quickly and, using magic, threw one of the knives on the table at Carn's head. Carn dodged the knife escaping with only a grazed cheek.

The sound of the door being flung open persuaded Hope to open his eyes too as he wondered who could've possibly stormed in. He was immensely relieved when he saw that his two saviors were Carn and Roran. However, his relief was short lived.

"Ah Roran Stronghammer. I'm so glad that you could join us." Said Sidric, as he moved to stand behind his captive and rested the blade of his knife on the teen's exposed neck. Hope's expression contorted in horror as he tried to be as still as possible for fear of wounding himself if he moved.

Roran took a step forward but immediately stopped when the knife dug a millimeter deeper into Hope's throat, drawing blood. Hope winced and felt the hot liquid sliding down his neck, staining his smooth pale skin and making it appear even paler in contrast with the near blackness of his own blood.

"Ah ah ah," The man warned. "Take another step closer and the boy's head will roll."

Roran stood as still as a statue with Carn right behind him and watched in frustration and helplessness.

"That's good."

"Let him go." said Carn in an even and controlled voice as he eyed, with barely concealed anxiety, the several bleeding gashes on the boy's battered body and his blood shot eyes that were two shades darker than usual. They indicated that his friend had experienced an immense amount of fear, worry and shock in the past hour.

"But where is the fun in that. We were about to have a lot of fun if it weren't for your disruption." The man said amusedly, caressing the boy's platinum blonde hair in mock affection. Carn registered the way Hope winced, when the man made contact, with pity for the poor bound boy. He also felt curiosity and anger flaring within him. _What exactly did happen in the past hour or so? _Carn asked himself, still unable to find an answer.

"What is it that you want?" Roran asked defeatedly.

"You." Sidric said, his eyes gazing at Roran and almost devouring him. "My master is looking forward to meeting Roran Stronghammer, cousin of the famous Dragon Rider Eragon Shadeslayer. All you have to do is surrender to me and I'll let the boy go."

"Roran… please don't do it…" Hope pleaded with him in a pain tinged voice.

"Shut up!" His captor yelled and delivered a quick slap of retribution across the teen's already bruised face, ignoring the shouts of indignation from Roran and Carn.

Hope's cheek was smarting, but he ignored the unpleasant sensation, in an attempt to concentrate on getting him and his friends out of this predicament. He tried magic but the sheer pain that he was experiencing both mentally and physically, with every pulse of his thumping heart, was preventing him from concentrating.

Carn couldn't take the sight any longer. He wished desperately that he had been more careful, so that none of this would have happened. He looked at Roran and sensed the conflict that was raging within him. It was apparent in the stiff set of his shoulders and the way he was intently staring with intense hatred at the man. _What are you going to do, Roran?_ Carn wondered.

"This waiting is starting to bore me," Sidric said after a while and his brown eyes glinted maliciously, "perhaps, a little… incentive would speed things up."

He quickly ran a molesting hand down the boy's neck and chest, enjoying the sensation and the helpless whimper his captive let out. He then held the knife centimeters above the boy's bare left arm for a second then proceeded to drag the blade slowly across the teen's now deathly pale skin, drawing warm crimson blood.

Hope didn't want to scream. He didn't want Roran to give himself up because of him. But he was too worn out. He couldn't resist anymore… and a hoarse scream was ripped from his gasping mouth. His eyes began to water and he couldn't stop the tears of pain that coursed down his cheeks nor could he stop the words that he involuntary spoke, "please, please make it stop…"

The screams were music to Sidric's ears. He enjoyed every second of his captive's agony, soaking it up like a sponge. He didn't pay any heed to the two men who were now nearly begging him to stop.

When the screams finally died down and all that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the teen as he tried to remain conscious. Sidric looked at his target. He could tell he had won. Roran's head was bowed in defeat, with his hands submissively by his sides. "Walk towards me. Now." he commanded.

Roran obeyed without question. He walked slowly knowing that there is nothing he could do without endangering Hope's life. He spared the boy a final glance and was not surprised to see that he had passed out. _He'd been through a lot today. _Roran noted as he walked.

However, Roran was wrong. Hope didn't lose consciousness; on the contrary he was wide awake. Well, as awake as anyone could be after suffering multiple lacerations and trauma. Hope was just pretending to be unconscious as part of his plan, if it could be called that anyway.

_Carn. _Hope sent his thoughts to said man.

_Hope is that really you? You're not-. _Carn couldn't carry on due to his shock and the fact that the teen interrupted him.

_I'm fine but we must do something before Roran ends up as a prisoner to the empire._

_What do you want me to do? If I so much as take a single step towards that man he'll kill you._

_Don't worry about me I've got a plan, I think._

_Well, let's hear it._

_Ok, see those daggers on the table? _

Carn could just barely see them out of the corner of his right eye. _Yes_

_On my signal, cast a spell that will launch all of them at Sidric._

_Okay, but wouldn't he have placed wards around him that will protect him._

_Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it. Just do as I say._

_Okay. _He paused. _Hope are you alright?_

Silence then the teen replied haltingly, _I-I'm. I'm f-fine. _Carn wasn't so sure but didn't push any further, for now.

Hope gathered the shreds of strength that remained within him. Ignoring the waves of pain that crashed through him, pushing the memories of his captor's kisses to the farthest corners of his mind. He concentrated so intensely that he was barely aware of the presence of his tormentor and the scratching noise that he suspected came from Sidric tying Roran up with a length of rope. Then when he felt that he was ready, the teen launched his thoughts at the man's mind. He rammed into the defenses that the man had placed around his mind like a mad bull. His probe collided with the man's mental walls again and again and again.

The walls began to waver under the relentless battering and Hope heard the man cry out in frustration. "NOW!" the teen yelled with both, his mind and voice.

Carn complied and levitated the row of daggers on the table. He held them there for a second. Took a deep breath. Then hurled them at the man who dared torture his friend. The knives hit the man's chest simultaneously. Sidric stood there for a second before his knees buckled and he collapsed like puppet with its strings cut off. He didn't even cry out as he was too preoccupied with defending his thoughts. He lay motionlessly in a growing puddle of his own crimson blood.

That should have been the end of him. But it wasn't.

Apparently, Sidric had one last trick up his sleeve. He had placed one final ward, something that should take out his killer if he died.

One of the knives imbedded in the man's chest, suddenly started to wriggle and shake, it broke free seconds later and hurtled towards Carn at incredible speed. Carn barely had the time to dodge, but he was too late. The knife stabbed him in the left shoulder causing blood to gush from the deep gash.

Ignoring the pain, Carn rushed to Roran's side and helped him untie the rope binding his hands. After he was done, he almost fainted from fatigue.

"Are you alright?" Roran asked, noting how Carn seemed unable to stand straight and the way he swayed on his feet without something to support him.

"'m fine…" He muttered faintly.

"Then heal yourself."

"I will, just help me get this dagger out first."

Roran nodded and placed his hands gently around the hilt of the dagger. Then, after taking a deep breath, Roran pulled the knife as quickly as he could. Carn flinched and cried out, cursing the man who did this to him, the king and the empire.

"Waise Heill!" the blond man muttered and the wound healed leaving not even the faintest hint of its existence in the first place.

After that was sorted the two friends turned towards the boy. "Hope!" they yelled in unison.

The teen's head hung limply and if it weren't for the ropes tying him to the chair he would've collapsed to the floor. His eyes were closed and his features more relaxed than they have ever seen before. He seemed peaceful. _Almost too peaceful, _Carn thought.

"Is he dead?" Carn asked, panic colouring his voice, the question that was on both of their minds.

Roran walked to the boy's side and placed his index and middle finger against his neck, on the vein. He sighed in relief when he felt the faint but worryingly irregular pulse. "He's alive." He said then added "Barely…" after seeing the boy's pale face and the multiple wounds that littered the top part of his body. He took in the cuts on the boy's left shoulder, upper left arm, right forearm, chest and abdomen. He literally looked like a bloody mess.

"Do you think you can heal him now?" Roran asked.

"I wish I could but I'm not exactly in my best form right now." said Carn helplessness evident in his tone. "But, I think I can heal some of the smaller cuts and bruises right now, that should ease his suffering a bit." he gestured towards the small wounds on the boys arms and the recent one on his neck where the knife had been minutes ago.

Roran nodded his consent and the man began working immediately, muttering phrases in the ancient language and manipulating the flesh and tissue as he guided it to recovery.

After he was done, most of the injuries were healed. Only four remained, the ones Carn couldn't mend in his current condition. A slash on the shoulder. A long deep cut on the upper left arm. Gashes across the chest and abdomen. And most important of all the mental implications of what the boy had endured. Carn was exhausted after he was done and had to lean on Roran for support.

"Hope," Roran shook the boy gently. "Hope." Realizing that he won't succeed like this, he turned to Carn and asked. "Do you know a spell that could wake him up, we can't carry him, and it'll attract too much attention."

Carn nodded weakly then struggled to stand without Roran's help, his now ghost-pale face contorted in concentration and muttered "Vakna."

Hope stirred and opened his eyes slowly. He saw Carn and Roran standing next to him both injured and battered, but the dagger and the gash caused by it were gone much to Hope's relief.

Seeing that the teen was awake, Roran started to untie him. He noticed with pity the way the boy flinched when the rope brushed against one of the gashes on his arms and the distant, haunted look in his gray green eyes.

When he was done he asked Hope, "What did he want?"

"Roran, with all due respect this is not the time, we have to get out of here. Now." Carn told him urgently in a faint voice.

Roran nodded and led them outside the door and up a flight of stairs that lead to another room, this one much bigger. Hope was barely standing and relied heavily on Roran to remain upright. He barely registered the two men lying in the right corner surrounded by a pool of their own blood, and guessed that Roran and Carn must've took them out to get to him.

They ran or in Carn and Hope's case, hobbled, towards a door in the far left corner, which opened into an alley and from there they hurried to the main gate, keeping to the back streets to reduce the chance of them being spotted. Henryk and Tory were already waiting for them, each holding a big bag of meat by the smell of it. After they regrouped they headed back to where the rest of the soldiers were waiting by the hill.

* * *

**So did ya like it? Did it suck? tell me (but be gentle ok?) constructive criticism is welcome! **

**Oh and just something that I thought you might find interesting. This story was never meant to be rated M, but when I went through it a few months ago I felt that I needed to add stuff like the attempted rape and torture. There is more of the latter to come, so keep on reading!**

**RBR**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Hi everyone, it seems like forever since I last updated and I am deeply sorry. Honestly, I am disappointed that I didn't get any reviews for last chapter. Was it that bad? I don't even know because no one had given me their opinion =_****(**

**So please review this chapter and tell me how do you feel about it, it's a bit angsty towards the end... Do you want more angst or less? more torture or less? TELL ME pretty please!**

**Hit count: OMG! 335 hits**

**Disclaimer: I wish! **

* * *

Hope felt like they had been riding forever. After exiting Melian they joined the soldiers and skirted the city. Then continued east, hoping to cover as many leagues as they could before the sun went down.

Now they were ten leagues away from the town and Hope hadn't spoken a single word since they found him. Carn and Roran were starting to get worried, the teen had refused point blank Carn's offer to heal or even to bandage the remaining gashes that littered his body and was now riding at the very back of the group looking lost and dejected.

"Go talk to him." Roran finally spoke after seeing the way Carn worriedly gazed at Hope.

"What? Why me? You talk to him." Carn replied nervously.

"I would, but he obviously trusts you more."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Roran sighed. "Just go, or do you want me to make that an order. Oh and ask him what that man wanted, he was obviously part of the Black Hand, and we need as much information as we can get about that organization."

"Fine." Carn replied wearily. And he slowed down until he was level with Hope.

The teen didn't seem to notice. He was staring down at the saddle, remembering how the cold steel had penetrated flesh causing his nerves to flare in piercing pain. Remembering how the man smiled as he heard Hope's moans of agony. Remembering the cold lips that were thrust against his and the man's groping touch. He shuddered involuntary, tears of despair threatening to fall.

"I'm sorry about what happened," Carn began.

Hope glared at Carn. "You're sorry?" He repeated, the anguish in his gray eyes turning to fury. "Guess what Carn? _Sorry_ won't bring back my dead mother. _Sorry_, won't stop me turning to a monster and _sorry_ certainly won't erase what _he_ did to me!" the teen bellowed at Carn, hot tears streaming from his tortured eyes. At this point some of the soldiers in front of them were staring at them in disbelief.

Carn was taken aback, he'd never seen Hope this infuriated and didn't know what to do or say to calm him down. He didn't even get a chance to try because Hope kicked his horse and sped up until he was at the very front of the group and away from Carn.

"That went well." Carn commented sarcastically once he reached Roran.

"I have to do something about this before dinner." Roran muttered, more to himself than to Carn.

"Why?" Carn asked and when he saw the look on Roran's face he added, "Roran Stronghammer are you hiding something from me?"

Roran saw that he couldn't avoid telling his friend so he yeilded, "Hope is going to be tried for insubordination once we get back to the Varden."

Carn looked at Roran like he'd just grown another head. "You're joking, right?" he said incredulously, "Hope won't survive fifty lashes, you barely did!"

Roran shook his head miserably. "But I have a plan and it's not going to work unless Hope speaks to the soldiers after dinner, which is impossible with him in this state of mind."

"Then you'll have to alter that plan of yours because he's not going to change back to the way he was in a couple of hours. He's suffered a lot."

* * *

The sun had set and the unit camped next to an out of place thicket of trees, thinking that it will provide them with some cover and protection if they were attacked. Hope excused himself from dinner saying that he was "too tired to eat." Then went to his tent to sleep, or so he said. The other soldiers ate their dinner in silence thankful it was not deer, lizards, rabbits or rats but roasted chicken.

After dinner Roran ordered the soldiers to stay where they were because he had something to say. This stirred a few murmurs of protest that immediately died down when Carn glared at them for silence.

"You remember the fight yesterday," A few heads nodded and Roran continued. "How Hope defied orders and participated in the battle, which was exactly the opposite of what I told him to do." A few soldiers started to object but knew better than to interrupt Roran Stronghammer. "So as punishment he'll be tried for insubordination once we get back to the Varden. This means he'll be whipped at least fifty times in public."

The soldiers were disturbed by what they were hearing. This was Hope they were talking about, the distraction he'd caused had not only saved the unit's only healer and magician, it had also made their fight a lot easier. Moreover he had helped Carn save many of them after the battle. They owed him their lives and they couldn't just sit down and let him get punished for it.

A man of about thirty stepped forward after asking for permission, Roran recognized him as Jorn. "Sir, is there any way to save Hope from this punishment?"

Roran grinned mentally, _everything is going as planned,_ He thought in satisfaction. "Yes, there is, but for it to work you all must keep this matter of insubordination a secret."

All soldiers including the Urgals nodded their heads in unison.

"Sir?" It was Henryk who spoke.

"Yes, Henryk."

"Could you tell us what happened today in Melain? Does it have anything to do with why Hope was so withdrawn afterwards?"

Roran took a deep breath before answering in a hesitant tone, "Carn and I believe that Hope was kidnapped and tortured for information by the Black Hand."

The soldiers stirred at this. They had all heard about the deadly organization, no one crossed the path of the Black Hand and escapesd unscathed.

"Did he give anything away?" An Urgal with a broken horn asked.

"No." Carn said without doubt in his voice. Although he hadn't ask Hope about it. He was sure that the teen wouldn't betray them.

"So we've agreed then, this matter is to be kept secret until I say so. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers replied in perfect unison.

* * *

After the matter of the soldiers was resolved, Carn found himself walking towards Hope's tent. He stood in front of it, silently debating whether to go in or not. He heard a strangled sob escape from within the tent and decided to go in, even if it meant angering the teen. He pushed the fabric of the entrance away and entered.

The sight that confronted him was gut-wrenching to say the least. The boy was sitting on his makeshift bed. His knees were drawn towards him with his arms hugging his legs close. He was shivering violently. His gaze was fixed on the opposite side of the tent and his eyes were glazed over with unshed tears as he sobbed quietly to himself.

He didn't notice Carn's presence. Even if he did, he showed no sign of acknowledging it. Carn walked towards the still sobbing boy and sat next to him. Finally he found the courage to ask "You want to talk about it?"

The teen didn't reply. He didn't even look at the man. Carn was about to give up and leave when Hope whispered "H-he asked me questions a-about Roran and when I didn't answer he cut me up… I-I couldn't betray Roran after everything he'd d-done for me. That frustrated him a-and h-he…"

The blonde man remained silent, knowing that if he spoke right now the boy would shut himself up and edge away from him. "H-he… kissed me." Hope's gloved hand touched his lips in lost contemplation before he pulled back the neck of his shirt revealing the 'love bite' that the man had given him. Carn swore violently, anger and grief welling up inside of him.

"I-I tried to resist, believe me I did, b-but he hurt m-me whenever I tried…" the boy broke off into a fit of sobs, hugging himself tightly as fear wracked his body and the memories flooded back. "He wanted to… r-rape me and he came s-so close to doing it… he t-told me that I was g-going to be h-his forever a-and that no one was ever g-going to save me…"

Carn wrapped his arm gently around the boy's shoulders, pulling him closer to the warmth of his body. The boy flinched as soon as he realized what the man is doing and scurried away from him, pressing his back against the fabric of the tent. His heart thumped louder and louder. Crude images flashed before his eyes. "D-Don't touch me!" He shrieked, panic veiling his mind.

Carn watched in complete shock, "Hope I-"

"No!" he exclaimed firmly, tears clouding his vision. "Just stay away."

The teen stood there shivering. Clutching himself as if by doing this he'd placed a mental barrier between him and the man and he could pretend that he wasn't there. "Please," he said finally avoiding the blonde's concerned eyes, "please leave me alone."

Carn heard the sorrow and anguish in the boy's voice. He couldn't leave, not at the time when Hope needed him the most. But one look at the teen's face told him that he had to, for the boy's sanity.

Hope watched the man warily as he stood up and walked wearily towards the entrance flap, his expression was a mixture of hurt and worry. He spared the boy one last glance before disappearing out of the tent.

After he was sure that Carn was out, the boy collapsed and fell to his hands and knees. Tears of pain and regret streaming from his blood shot eyes and onto the rough ground. He continued to weep quietly, until he was too tired and fell into fitful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone it's been too long and I'm extremely sorry, Medical college is taking most of my time. Anyway could I make a request? This story has more than 450 hits, so how about you make me happy by giving me three reviews for next chapter. Just tell me what you liked/didn't like and I'll work on improving. I promise! Will you do that? Thanks.**

**Thank you hayden p576 for reviewing**

**Disclaimer: I own zilch.**

* * *

Surprisingly, Hope woke up early the next morning, even earlier than the other soldiers, except of course, the one's keeping watch. He stepped out of his tent at dawn, chose a direction and walked in it not caring where it took him, hoping that the fresh air would clear his jumbled mind. He walked until he could no longer see the camp, then sat down on the thinning grass determined to clear his messed up thoughts.

He closed his eyes and all his problems crashed into his mind. His mother's death, the brand, his father's fate, his focus, the way he treated Carn last night and the torture. All hope of a better future seemed to drain out of him. He sat there very close to tears when a thought made itself known in his mind.

_What would Light say if she saw me like this?_ He asked himself, but he already knew the answer. _She'd tell me to stop moping around like a baby and focus on the task at hand._

_But I can't do this anymore! I can't carry on living after everything that had happened. _He retorted, withdrawing the knife that Light had given him a while back. He placed it at his throat and was about to slice through skin. His hand trembeled as he once again heard Light's voice in his mind.

_It's not a question of can or can't, you just do. _Hope smiled. He closed his eyes, withdrew the weapon and hid it. In his mind's eye he saw all of the people he cared about, His parents, Lightning, Vanille, Fang, Sazh, Snow, Roran and Carn. All of them were smiling at him, encouraging him to get back up and not let this depression get to him and showing him that he still had people who cared about him and who would miss him.

"Thanks guys." He whispered to no on. A part of him told him that he was talking to grass and imaginary people, which is usually a sign of insanity, but he was too happy to care.

He looked at his cuts then decided it was time to let them go just like his depression. "Cure!" he muttered and all his wounds were healed. Finally feeling better, he walked back to Camp, determined that he would fight the depression.

* * *

Hope reached camp just in time for breakfast and he was starving after all, he had slept without dinner. He barely had time to wonder what they were having for breakfast before seeing what was cooking in the fire. _Honestly, chicken for breakfast is that all these people eat, meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner._ He thought, mentally rolling his eyes.

He took a chicken drumstick from the fire and started munching it. Not exactly the most civilized way to eat a chicken, but who cared he was hungry. Afterwards he washed up from a nearby stream and started looking for Carn. He eventually found him talking to Roran by his tent. "Good morning," he greeted them.

They were stunned, both thinking _what's wrong with this kid one day he's furious and doesn't want anyone to talk to him, the next he's walking on clouds_. "Good morning to you too, Hope." Roran was the first to recover, however Carn's mouth hung wide open until Roran physically closed it for him. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Never better" he beamed. Then turned to Carn his expression sober, "I'm really sorry for yelling at you yesterday and last night, I wasn't thinking straight and I promise it won't happen again."

"Oh so you think that after what you did yesterday you can just come here, apologize and everything will be fine." Carn glared at Hope till he looked away.

When the teen finally gathered the courage to look back at the man to see why he was so angry, he saw that he was smirking at him smugly.

Hope didn't even give Carn a chance to dive for cover. He whispered "Watera!" and Carn was immediately soaked from head to toe in cold water that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"You really have got to stop that!" Carn exclaimed while trying to dry his blond hair with his hands and not doing a very good job at it.

"Stop what?" Hope replied giving Carn his most innocent look, then walked off to get ready for the trip ahead.

Carn turned to see that Roran was barely suppressing his laughter. "Ha Ha very funny." He said dryly.

"At least he's feeling better."

"Yeah and I feel like a wet dog, but who cares," Carn added cynically.

* * *

An hour later, they all hit the road, apparently they should be at the Varden's camp by tomorrow noon if they kept up this pace. Hope rode alongside Carn and Roran, cleaning his boomerang and ensuring it was in good condition when he realized that he didn't talk to the soldiers as he planned with Roran.

"Roran what happened to the plan?" He asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, everything will be fine. Just let me do all of the talking when we meet the Lady Nasuada."

Silence descended on the trio and nothing could be heard save the sound of the horses' hooves hitting the rough ground. Hope continued working on his boomerang but with seemingly greater difficulty as if he couldn't concentrate.

"He wanted information about you Roran," he spoke suddenly.

"What?" Roran asked, not understanding what the teen meant.

"The man who… _interrogated_ me in Melian," Hope shuddered at the memory. "He wanted to know your whereabouts. He knew that you were in the area, going on some raid and he wanted to know your exact location."

"Did you tell him?"

"No, that's why he tried breaking into my mind, but I stopped him. Then he got frustrated and cut me up." Hope looked at his body, where the cuts used to be, with a mixture of disgust and relief. "Hoping that the pain would make me confess."

Carn noticed that Hope had refrained from mentioning the more 'intimate' parts of the interrogation but didn't comment.

"Thanks Hope I owe you, a lot." Roran said sincerely.

"See, I told you he wouldn't betray us." Carn smiled smugly at the other two.

But Hope was not paying attention, he was staring into the distance. "Is that water I'm seeing?" he said, squinting at the horizon.

"That must be the Jiet River," Roran confirmed, "We'll rest there for a while then continue on our way."

When they reached the riverbank they refilled their water skins and let the horses drink. Then they sat down for lunch. Some of the soldiers managed to hunt a deer and they had prepared it. Hope found himself thinking of his mom's homemade Caesar salad. How he wished he could taste it right now. Hope sighed but otherwise, ate in silence.

After lunch Hope approached Carn and Roran and heard them arguing over the best way to cross the river.

"We should build a raft out of these trees," Roran was saying gesturing to the clusters of oak trees that surrounded the place. "It's safer."

"The river can't be very deep we can cross it on our horses." Carn argued.

"And what if it is too deep?"

"It's not and we don't want to waste our time building rafts that are strong enough to carry twenty five soldiers including the Urgals and the horses."

Hope had enough of their argument. It was giving him a really bad headache, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. "Blizzaga!" He exclaimed and the river water froze in a straight line from bank to bank, wide enough for the horses and soldiers to cross.

That took care of the quarrel and they both decided to cross the river "Hope's way" much to the blonde's relief.

The crossing went without incident, except the one time Carn accidentally slipped and splashed butt-first into the river. Thankfully nothing was broken, well except his pride, and he was able to pull himself back up without help and continue leading his horse across the makeshift bridge. Soon they were all back on their horses feeling very excited, as the day drew to a close, meaning that there is not much time left till they reached the Varden and their families.

* * *

Hope lay on his mattress trying to sleep but without much success. He couldn't put the fact that he might be finally returning to Gran Pulse tomorrow, that he'd finally be reunited with his friends out of his mind. He was so excited, but also miserable because he'd be leaving the friends he had made during his short stay.

He finally gave up on sleeping and slipped out of his tent as quietly as possible. He walked stealthily away from the camp and was surprised to see the figure of a person sitting on the ground and facing the starlit sky. As he moved closer he realized it was Roran.

"Couldn't sleep too?" Hope asked and sat next to the man.

"Yeah big day tomorrow," Roran said.

"Anyone you're excited to meet?" Hope asked for the lack of anything else to say.

"Yeah my cousin and wife," his tone softer when he said 'wife' and Hope could sense the man's longing. "She's pregnant."

"That's amazing, congratulations," Hope felt genuinely happy for Roran.

"Any advice for tomorrow, I'm not sure what I should be expecting?"

"Well, first of all we'll have to report to Lady Nasuada, I suspect that my cousin would be there with Saphira and Princess Arya, she's an elf. They'll probably ask you some questions.

"Can I trust them?"

"Yeah, they're all trustworthy." Roran tried to comfort Hope, then something occurred to him. "I should probably warn you that my cousin doesn't look quite… _human_ anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"He lived with the elves for a while and when he returned he looked, for a want of a better word, elfish."

"Thanks for the heads up, Roran I really appreciate it." Hope thanked Roran with a smile. He stood up,"I think I'll try to sleep again, after all tomorrow will be a big day." Hope walked off back to his tent.

Roran sighed after he was confident that Hope was out of hearing range. Can he really bring himself to do what he had in mind to save Hope from being lashed, Katrina certainly won't like it but she'd understand and Nasuada would probably kill him herself if he even hinted at it. But he didn't care after all the boy saved his life.

* * *

**Please review so I can update sooner and tell you what happens when they reach the Varden...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone! It's been a really long time and I have to admit that I was going to give up on this story or have it deleted at one point, but that is not going to happen. Wanna know why because I've had two amazing reviews since last chapter that encouraged me to update Alageasia's Hope.**

**Special thanks to l-lope estheim and NeoFuuka!**

* * *

Next day the tension was so thick you can actually cut it with a knife. They had their breakfast in complete silence and the human soldiers were so nervous they didn't bother throwing glares at the Urgals. Now they were heading towards the Varden's camp that they can barely see in the horizon.

Hope was anxious, really anxious, and so anxious that he started to fiddle with Nora's reins. He was desperately hoping it would take his mind off what's going to happen in the next two hours or so but it didn't seem to be working.

_Calm down they don't bite_ Carn thought to Hope.

_Carn, what are you doing? Get out of my head! _Hope snapped.

_Don't worry, I'm just preparing you to talking to Saphira._

_Huh? _Hope replied, oh so very intelligently.

_If you want to communicate with a dragon, you'll have to do it with your thoughts, since they can't speak like us._

_So I have to open my mind to Saphira if I want to talk to her._

_Yes, jeez Hope. You took forever to figure that out._

_I guess I'm just stressed out._

_Like I said they don't bite, well except for Saphira. She could practically eat you whole with one bite._

_Not helping Carn!_

_Oops, sorry. _

* * *

They were finally there! The Varden's camp was only a few meters away and Hope could make out a lot of tents, as far as his eye can see, and even more people, most of them dressed in armor and carrying all sorts of weapons and shields.

"Hail Stronghammer!" One of the soldiers standing guard greeted Roran as the unit approached the camp which made other people aware that Roran Stronghammer was back, and they hurried to greet him too. The crowd blocked the unit's path, causing the soldiers and Hope to stop and wait till Roran finished greeting his many admirers.

Hope saw the human soldiers dismount and did the same wondering why. Tory then came and offered to take Hope's horse to the stables to be fed and cared for. Hope thanked him and handed him the reins. Now that they were all on foot they proceded deeper into the camp until they reached a point where all the other soldiers separated to either rest or see their families, except Roran, Carn and Hope.

Hope was not feeling comfortable with all the people in the camp staring at him so he distracted himself by looking at Roran, who was now talking with Carn to a huge man with a black, bushy beard and two younger men that shared a resemblance to him. Roran looked back and saw Hope then indicated for him to come closer.

Hope did and when he was close enough, Roran introduced them. "Hope this is Horst, and his two sons Albriech and Baldor, they are very close friends of mine from my village." He shook their hands and smiled trying to be polite.

"How ya doin' Hope?" The guy named Baldor asked.

"Um…Fine, thanks." Hope replied a bit awkwardly.

"We should be going-" Roran was cut short, as he saw a young woman with long copper red hair, practically sprinting towards him and showing no sign of her pregnancy. He barely had time to brace himself as she flung herself at him and hugged him, tightly.

"Roran, I missed you so much." She whispered into his ear, her voice filled with emotion.

"And I, you love." Roran replied hugging her even more tightly.

When they finally stepped away, Hope could see the tears in the young lady's eyes when she met his gaze. She smiled at him sweetly then asked Roran. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Hope we met along the way back from the mission. Hope, this is my wife Katrina."

"Pleasure to meet you Hope." She beamed.

"The pleasure is all mine."

"Be free to stop by our tent anytime, you're always welcome." She said kindly.

"Um… thanks." Hope was unsure what to say. He was thrown off by her kindness.

"Sorry to cut you off, but we're going to be late." Carn commented.

With that said the three took off towards a red pavilion, which seemed to be at the center of the camp. When they approached the tent one of the guards, a dwarf Hope presumed judging by the man's height, gestured for them to wait then shouted. "Roran Stronghammer and two companions request an audience Lady Nightstalker."

"Let them in." A feminine voice replied from inside the tent and the soldiers parted to let them in.

There wasn't a lot of furniture, Hope noticed as soon as he entered. There was a small table in the far left corner of the tent a mirror to the side and a high backed chair at the back of the tent. Sitting on the chair was Lady Nasuada, he assumed. She had dark skin, black hair and hazel eyes that fell on him as soon as he entered. Next to her was a beautiful elf lady with raven hair and pointed ears, she also gazed at him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" Lady Nasuada asked not bothering with the formalities apparently.

"My name is Hope, ma'am" Hope replied a bit nervously. She nodded at him then spoke "I am Nasuada leader of the Varden and this is Arya, princess of the elves. Roran please explain." She turned to Roran, Hope momentarily forgotten.

"We met-" Roran stopped when he heard the sound of the Pavilion's tent being moved. He turned around and smiled. "Eragon" They both grinned and embraced.

Eragon had brown hair like his cousin and pointed ears, although not as pointed as Arya's, his face was elfish, for a want of a better word, with slightly slanted eyes. He also eyed Hope suspiciously when he noticed him.

Hope then saw the left part of the pavilion lift up and an enormous dragon's sapphire blue head poked through. Roran waited until Saphira stopped shifting to continue, "The mission was a complete success, and we didn't lose any soldiers…" He then proceeded to describe how the raid went and any information he acquired, next he described the journey back till he reached the part where he met Hope. "Hope was lost in the Hadarac desert for days, until he stumbled on our camp by coincidence. We asked him if he wanted to accompany us here or leave and he chose to stay. Carn examined his mind and found nothing suspicious." Nasuada looked at Carn for confirmation and he nodded. Roran then described the events of the last five days, briefly skimming over the events of Hope's kidnapping and leaving out his insubordination. Hope gave him a look that clearly asked why, but Roran shook his head subtly.

After Roran was done, Nasuada turned to Hope. "Why did you choose to stay?" She asked.

"Because I want to go home" Nasuada waited for him to elaborate "I'm not from Alagaesia, my home is a place called Cocoon and I thought that the only way I could achieve that is with the help of a mighty dragon such as Saphira." Hope turned to Saphira, his eyes pleading.

_Iam sorry, little one, _Saphira transmitted her thoughts so everyone could hear._ I can't control my magic and even if I can, I'm not sure I'd be able to send you home if it's too far away. _Saphira spoke gently.

"You can wait until Saphira gathers her power and then she can try." Eragon offered sensing the teen's distress.

"How long will that take?" Hope asked his voice taking on a tone of dread.

"I don't know hours, days maybe even months."

Eragon's words hit him like a sledgehammer and he collapsed to his knees no longer able to stand unsupported. He banged his fist against the ground in frustration. They all watched him trying to figure out why he was so upset, except Carn who said, "I'm afraid he doesn't have that much time."

"What do you mean?" Roran asked, after all he never heard the story from Hope.

"Hope, do you want me to tell them?"

"No it's fine, I will." Hope gathered his strength and stood up again albeit a bit unsteadily. He emptied his mind from everything except images of the fal'Cie he'd seen and transmitted them through his mind so everyone in the pavilion can see. "These creatures are fal'Cie," Hope explained. "They are powerful beings that are found where I come from. One day, not long ago I was given this brand by a fal'Cie." Hope raised his wrist for them to see the brand on it. "In addition, I was given a focus which I had to complete before the brand advanced to its last stage." There was silence so Hope continued, "If I don't, then I'll turn to a monster, a Cie'th." He showed them memories of him and the others fighting all kinds of Cei'th on Gran Pulse. "I don't know how much time is left for me and all I'm asking is-"

A shout came from outside the pavilion, "LADY NASUADA!" Seconds later a soldier ran into the tent, to say he was afraid would be an understatement. He paused to catch his breath then spoke urgently. "Empire soldiers are approaching camp from the north."

"How many?" Eragon asked.

"About two thousand, sir." The soldier's face has gone a deathly pale. "And judging by the sound of laughter they're the cursed ones, the ones who can't feel pain."

"What are your orders milady?"

"Tell all soldiers human, Urgal and dwarf to get ready and assemble themselves for the fight." The soldier left and she turned to Eragon "Contact the Du Vrangr Gata, we're going to need every magician we have if we are to survive."

"Excuse me ma'am," Hope said when she turned to face him "Before you order your soldiers to engage the enemy may I fight them first. "The pavilion was silent and they all looked at Hope like he had grown another head or something. Even Carn was speechless.

"Are you insane?" Arya uttered the question they all wanted to ask.

"No. In fact I think I can help you win this battle with minimal life loss."

"Let me get this straight. You're telling me that you can take on two thousand hard-to-kill soldiers and survive." Nasuada asked incredulously.

"Yes! I'll narrow the odds down to about a third, maybe a half if I'm lucky. Do I have your permission?"

_I say we let him try,_ Saphira voiced, or rather 'thought' her agreement.

"Fine, what's your plan?" Nasuada asked looking worn out.

"You'll see, just wait for my signal to charge." Hope smirked at them and walked out.

"He's dead meat," Eragon said simply and everyone in the pavilion nodded then walked out to see what Hope's grand plan was.

They saw him standing in a clearing in front of the pavilion deep in thought. When they approached he smiled then seemed to concentrate on something. He held a yellow crystal in his hand that he crushed then yelled "ALEXANDER!"

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then suddenly, the ground started to glow underneath Hope as countless golden symbols surrounded him. Then a huge object seemed to be falling out of the sky, heading towards them at incredible speed.

"Tell the soldiers not to shoot, he's with us." Hope told Eragon who relayed this information to members of Du Vrangr Gata, who in turn relayed his message to the other soldiers in the camp.

"What is that?" Roran asked in amazement.

"My Eidolon," then seeing their blank expressions he added "I'll explain later, the important thing right now is to stop the enemy troops, right?" Alexander landed near Hope, "Long time no see big guy!" He said cheerfully. Then proceeded to climb to Alexander's shoulder. "Let's go." Hope said and they took off towards the enemy, leaving Nasuada, Eragon, Saphira, Roran, Arya and Carn completely speechless.

Nasuada was the first to recover, "Quit standing around like statues and prepare for battle," she ordered the three men.

"Yes, milady." Roran and Carn spoke in unison then took off.

"Would you like me to participate in this battle?" Eragon asked.

"We'll see how well that boy does, but I want you to be prepared." Eragon nodded and climbed Saphira. When he was settled in the saddle he turned to Arya and asked "Would you like a lift?" Arya shook her head and left to join Blödhgarm and the other elves who were headed also in the direction of the gathering soldiers, much to Eragon's disappointment.

_Eragon, you must concentrate on the battle, _She said.

Eragon nodded. You're right. _Come on, let's go._ He said and Saphira took off into the air, to see what Hope will do.

* * *

**Hope POV**

Alexander landed about ten meters from the empire army, who had advanced quite a lot in the past fifteen minutes. I hopped off his shoulder and stood to face their commander who was glaring at me the whole time. Aware of the Varden watching my every move from in front of the camp, I walked towards him and once we were six feet apart I stopped.

"What do you want?" Commander snapped angrily, apparently not intimidated by the fact that I have a twelve-foot Eidolon, capable of squashing him like a bug, at my command.

"I came to offer you a chance to survive," I said calmly. "Surrender and you will be spared, or fight and die."

"Are you threatening me?!" The commander asked.

"No, I'm asking you out to dinner." I retorted sarcastically, then saw the confused expression on his face and added with a sigh. "Of course I'm threatening you, dumb-ass."

"You will regret the day you were born when we're done with you!"

"I'll take that as a no." I said then turned to Alexander. "Let's teach'em not to mess with us." Then climbed back on his shoulder. From up here I saw an endless mass of soldiers all laughing like they were trying to mock me. It was seriously creeping me out.

I started casting different combinations of spells aiming them randomly at the army finishing many of them during the first minutes of the battle. Of course the soldiers retaliated by shooting arrows at Alexander and me. But I quickly used protect and shell to deflect the arrows and any possible magical attacks aimed at me.

When the toll of using magic for so long finally hit me, I decided to use Alexander's transformation. Since the soldiers practically surrounded us from all sides it would be easier to deal a lot of damage.

"Let's finish this!" I said enthusiastically and Alexander transformed to, for a want of a better word, a fortress. Once the transformation was complete, he started firing at the army, using different combinations of Purificanto, Earthquake, Brutal Sanction and Retributive Blast. I expected to hear screams, possibly pleas for mercy but I never expected this. The soldiers were laughing madly like they were sharing some sick joke and it was getting on my nerves.

"Alexander! Divine Judgment!" I yelled when I could no longer take it.

Alexander traced out a circle of symbols on the ground that surrounded a huge portion of the enemy army. A few seconds later an explosion erupted from within the circle sending bodies flying everywhere and killing every soldier that was standing in the circle.

I sent my thoughts to Eragon and Saphira, _They are all yours now I think half the army has been dealt with. Anyway the rest is up to you and the Varden._

_Yes, good job Hope._ He replied with barely concealed amazement.

_No problem._

After that Alexander dropped me off at the Varden's camp, next to Lady Nasuada and a dwarf in fancy clothes, both were watching the soldiers charge the empire army, and he left.

"Thank you, big guy." I said as I watched him fly off to wherever he came from.

"So you are the one responsible for lessening the odds in this battle." The dwarf spoke, "I am Orik, clan chief of dûrgrimst Ingeitum, and king of the dwarves." he added when he saw my questioning look.

"My name's Hope, your majesty, It's an honor to meet you." I replied politely.

"Thank you, for what you have done, it will inevitably save a lot of knurla."

"No need to thank me your majesty, I just did what I had to do."

I turned to watch the battle and saw that the Varden were vastly outnumbering the enemy soldiers. However the laughter still didn't die down and I felt like I was back in the middle of the fight, and I saw the ground turn red with the blood of men that I killed, well technically it wasn't all me, Alexander helped too, but I still could feel the guilt gnashing at me. Like it was entirely my fault for destroying these men's lives. What if they had families? Kids? Did I just orphan thousands of children? Did I just rob a husband from his wife?

All these questions raced through my head as I witnessed the fight, the sound of laughter ever-present in my ears.

* * *

**So what did you guys think? Also for all of you who might be wondering where the rest of FFXIII's characters are, I will only say that you'll be hearing (or reading) about them really soon! But which one will be introduced first and what part each will play? I'll leave that for you to ponder ^ ^**

**If you have any theories regarding this story. I'm really interested to know about them so REVIEW!**

**Love RBR XX**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait I was busy with college DX**

**Thanks to everyone who's reading this and a very special thanks to the awsome people who reviewed!**

**Disclaimer: None of what you recognise is mine...**

**Now on to the chapter! **

* * *

Two hours later the Varden soldiers returned to camp victorious, having killed every last soldier of the empire. I saw Carn, grim faced and scowling, walking towards camp, his clothes splattered with blood that I hoped was not his own.

I walked over to him concern etched on my face, "Are you alright?" I asked. The scowl on his face was immediately wiped off and replaced with a grin when he saw me.

"I'm fine, although many of these men are not, I have a lot of work to do."

"Would you like some help?"

He shook his head and said, "No, you did more than enough today. You should go and rest."

"But-"

"No buts Hope, promise me not use magic for the rest of the night, unless it's absolutely necessary." He told me in his no-nonsense voice.

"…I promise" I said, feeling slightly annoyed. Then I watched him disappear into the maze of tents surrounding us.

I walked throughout the camp for ten minutes before I realized that I had nowhere to go. I didn't have my own tent or knew where Carn or Roran's tents were. My best option right now is to find the red pavilion and Lady Nasuada, she could order the soldiers to set a tent up for me or find a place for me to stay temporarily in.

I stopped to get my bearings. The sun had set about an hour ago and I could barely make out the dark outline of the red pavilion in the distance, maybe a kilometer away.

A hand touched my shoulder and I jerked away and spun at the same time to face whoever was behind me. I was shocked to find it was Arya.

"Greetings, I'm sorry to have scared you." She said and smiled although it seemed strained to me.

"Don't sneak up on me like that ever again." I said. Sheesh, can't a person walk in this camp in some privacy. "What is it, Princess?"

"Lady Nasuada asked me to get you." She said with slight scowl, not afraid of showing exactly how she felt about the request.

"Ok, let's go then." I replied, purposefully ignoring her attitude.

* * *

Hope entered the tent feeling more drained than ever. After all he'd used more magic in the last two hours than he'd done in the past week, he just wanted to get this meeting over with so he could go and catch some sleep.

"Good evening." Lady Nasuada greeted him. She was sitting on her usual chair.

Eragon and Saphira were also in the tent, well actually Eragon and Saphira's head. And they nodded in greeting when he entered. Arya had moved to stand next to Eragon and Saphira, eying him curiously the whole time.

"You called, ma'am." Hope asked hiding his growing impatience

"Yes, I called you tonight to resolve two matters. First, I want to thank you on behalf of the Varden for what you did today, even though it was suicidal." She smiled at her last sentence. "Reminds me of something another person in here would do." Nasuada looked at Eragon meaningfully and his face flushed in embarrassment or annoyance or maybe a mixture of both.

"No need to thank me, if you have to thank anyone then thank Alexander. He's the one who did most of the work." Hope said modestly

"How did you do that?" Arya asked icily.

_Is she glaring at me? _Hope thought feeling very uncomfortable. _Carn hinted that I wouldn't want an elf as my enemy, and judging by the way she is staring at me, I think that she hates me. A lot._ "L'Cie like me are able to summon Eidolons, like Alexander, to help them complete their focus and make sure that they stay on the right track." Hope finally spoke. Thinking all the while about what he'd done to insult the elf.

Arya stared at Hope and he stared back, challenging her to make a move.

_Eragon do something before she kills him. _Saphira thought to Eragon.

_Or he kills her, _He thought. "We still didn't tell you the other thing we wanted to inform you about."

Hope broke eye contact with Arya and looked at Eragon. "Yeah and what is that?"

_I agreed to try to send you home, _Saphira told him.

To say that Hope was happy would be the understatement of the century. He felt like he was about to burst with excitement. "When?" He tried to keep the enthusiasm from his voice, but failed miserably.

"Tomorrow morning, meet us here." He then added when he saw the teen's impatient expression, "We would have tried tonight, but we are all very exhausted."

Hope understood. He was so tired that he could hardly keep his eyes open. "Thank you so much!" Hope said gratefully and was about to leave when he remembered that he didn't have anywhere to go to.

"Where will I be staying for the night?" He enquired.

"Oh right, I ordered for a new tent to be set up for you. It's next to Eragon's, he'll show you. You are dismissed"

Eragon and Hope exited the tent and Saphira joined them a few seconds later having to untangle her head from underneath the fabric of the pavilion. It was the first time that Hope was able to properly examine her. Her body was covered in Sapphire blue scales that gleamed gorgeously under the moonlight and her claws looked extremely white and beautiful in a vicious sort of way. In addition she had pearly white teeth and often, gray smoke would curl from her mouth. _She's magnificent, _Hope thought in awe as he contiuned examining every feature of her body.

"So which way?" Hope finally tore his gaze away from Saphira to ask.

Eragon gestured to the left and they all walked in that direction reveling in the feel of the refreshing cold night breeze against their skin, or in Saphira's case, scales. It was very silent since most of the soldiers were asleep in their tents.

Ten minutes later they stood outside Eragon's tent. "This is your tent," he said while gesturing to a smaller tent next to his "Good night". They separated each going to their own tent, except Saphira who lay down protectively in front of her rider's tent.

Hope entered his tent feeling utterly drained and immediately made his way towards a makeshift mattress at the far corner. He slept fitfully that night haunted by nightmares and guilt. _What if I am too late? What if Barthandelus killed all my friends because I wasn't there to help them?_

Meanwhile somebody else, very far away was having the same thoughts…

* * *

Hope woke up to the sound of commotion coming from outside his tent. _What on earth is going on?_ He thought as he dressed quickly. When he exited his tent the teen headed in the direction the noise was coming from till he reached a clearing with about fifty soldiers gathered in it. Now that Hope was closer he could see that they were practicing their swordsmanship and the sounds that woke him up were the clang of metal hitting metal mingled with the cries of soldiers.

Carn and Roran were sparring when they saw Hope, Roran was attacking with his hammer while Carn tried to deflect his blows using magic.

"Hope!" Carn called out and every soldier in the clearing turned to look at the newcomer.

Hope felt very self-conscious as he made his way towards Carn and Roran. He could feel the soldiers' eyes boring into him but he couldn't bring himself to meet their, what he thought were, accusing stares. He could make out what some of them were whispering,

"…Killed half an army…"

"Summoned a monster to help him…"

"… Can we trust him? …"

The teen stood next to Carn and Roran having had to ignore all the whispers and the stares that were launched at him. Roran gave him a reassuring smile before he spoke, "Atten-tion!" All the whispering ceased at Roran's command. "This brave young man here is Hope. And as you all have heard he had accomplished feats similar to those of a mighty Dragon Rider." He paused and a couple of whispers could be heard from the crowd, "Also, he saved my life. I trust him and if you trust in my judgment then you will too. Now get back to work!"

"Thanks," Hope was truly grateful, those stares were really starting to unnerve him.

"Why did you come out here so early?" Carn asked.

"You woke me up from my beauty sleep," Hope said exasperatedly, then added "The noise you were making could wake the dead!" Hope was silent for a while and he then looked up at Carn and smiled sweetly.

"Why are you smiling at me?" Carn asked thrown off by the sudden change in the teen's mood.

"You know what would make me feel better, Roran?" Hope asked innocently.

"What?" Roran said feeling just as confused as Carn.

Hope paused for effect. "Giving Carn a shower, the l'Cie way!" Hope exclaimed.

The look on Carn's face was priceless and Hope couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Don't you dare!" Carn threatened, but it made the teen laugh even harder until he doubled over from all the chuckling. Carn and Roran shared a look, obviously questioning the boy's sanity.

When Hope _finally_ stopped laughing, he said "Do you mind if I join your training?"

"Sure, why not?" Roran replied and turned to the crowd "Men are you up for a challenge!"

"Aye!" They all shouted in unison.

"Whoever wants to spar with Hope, step forward."

The soldiers stayed still, they saw what Hope was capable of yesterday and didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

"I'll fight him," a feminine voice came from midst the soldiers. A few seconds later, the crowd parted to let an elfin lady pass through.

"Arya?" Hope said purely shocked by her appearance.

"I challenge you to a duel." She spoke confidently staring directly at Hope's light gray eyes.

"This should be interesting." Carn said cheerfully and Hope replied maturely with a "Shut up!"

"I accept your challenge, name your conditions" Hope told Arya, almost dreading the answer.

"We fight using any means possible, including magic till one of us surrenders."

_Or is killed! _Carn shared that thought with Roran who smiled uneasily.

"Sounds fair." Hope said trying hard to sound casual.

Arya and Hope stood fifteen feet opposite to each other. They withdrew their weapons, Arya's was a lean lethal looking sword that she drew from a beautifully adorned sheath at her hip and Hope's was his ever-reliable boomerang. They eyed each other, emerald green eyes staring into light gray ones, as if trying to spot any weakness through them. Arya muttered "Gëuloth du knífr." (Dull the knife) She didn't want to kill Hope, yet.

Suddenly Hope threw his boomerang. It traveled a perfect arc at great speed towards Arya, but it never hit her. With a swift movement of her sword she deflected it at the last minute sending the boomerang flying back towards Hope. The blonde l'Cie barely caught it and before he could even think of retaliating she ran towards him with impossible speed, her sword ready to strike.

At the last minute Hope held up his boomerang and used it as a shield successfully repelling the elf's blow. However he then realized that he was so winded that he could barely stand and he had dislocated a couple of fingers. _Ok enough! No more Mr. nice guy!_ Hope thought furiously, momentarily ignoring the pain in his hand. "Aerora!" he shouted. Arya was flung by a powerful gust twenty feet across the clearing until she landed heavily on her back. She didn't move.

Hope took the opportunity to heal himself with "Cure" and strengthen himself with "Vigilance", "Haste," "Protect" and "Shell" while Arya was out. As soon he was done muttering the words, he watched in dismay as Arya stood up slowly. Her expression completely calm, but Hope could see that her eyes were not as she turned to face him again.

"Thrysta!" She yelled and Hope was pushed back by some invisible force half the distance that Arya was thrown seconds earlier. _Thank God I cast shell at the last second or I would've been toast, _Hope sighed with relief. _Now it's my turn._

"Ruinga!" He shouted, switching roles, and a bolt of white energy launched itself at the elf before exploding, except that it didn't hit its target. Arya had somehow predicted an attack like this and she managed to dodge it at the last second, but she didn't stop there. She charged Hope with superhuman speed, knocking him down with another "thrysta". The teen landed on his back. He tried to stand back up but froze when he saw that Arya had the tip of her sword positioned millimeters from his throat.

"Do you surrender?" She asked in an almost kind voice.

Hope nodded slowly, there was nothing he could do with her standing over him like that. Arya extended her hand to help him up and Hope took it feeling very puzzled.

"I'm sorry," she said only loud enough for him to hear.

Well now Hope felt even more puzzled than before. "Why?"

"For not trusting you. I thought that maybe you were an agent of Galbatorix who managed to slip in between our defenses. So I apologize Hope vodhr."

"You shouldn't, you were right to not trust outsiders, but why did you apologize all of a sudden and how did you decide that I can be trusted this quickly."

"It's the way you fought." She said then strode off towards camp without another word as if that explained it all.

"Hope!" Carn called him and gestured for him to come over to where he was standing with Roran.

"What do you want?" Hope asked once he was close to them, his tone slightly irritated.

"We just want to say that what you did was really brave taking an elf on like that." Carn said.

"Or stupid." Roran added with a grin, then turned to Carn and said, "You owe me ten crowns."

"You were betting!" Hope exclaimed incredulously.

"Of course, I told Carn that there is no doubt that Arya would win but he disagreed so we decided to bet. The loser owes the winner ten crowns and Carn lost."

"Gee, thanks for having some faith in me Roran." Hope said sarcastically and playfully punched the man's arm. Then abruptly turned on his heel so that he didn't have to look at them when he said, "Anyway I have to go. See ya." Hope said trying to keep the sadness from his voice but failing miserably.

The two young men noticed, "Hope do you want to tell us something?" Roran said and spun the teen around so that he was facing them again.

"No, why would you think that I would hide something from you two?" Hope said trying to avoid answering Roran, but the look on Carn's and Roran's faces told him it was not working. He groaned then said, "Saphira will try to send me back home today."

"So you were just going to leave without a proper goodbye." Carn said.

"Look, it might not even work and I'm not so good with goodbyes." Hope said in a low sad voice.

Carn placed his hands on Hopes shoulders and said, "We'll never forget you Hope."

"That's Carn's way of saying that he loves you," Roran added jokingly and as a result he received two punches on the arm from Hope and Carn. Then he added a bit more seriously to the teen "Thanks for everything."

"No, I should be thanking you. I would never have survived here without your guidance and advice." Hope awkwardly shook hands with the two men and left to the red Pavilion.

* * *

Hope entered the tent with dread in his heart. Dread because if Saphira succeeded he won't be seeing his friends in Alagaesia again but what he feared even more was Saphira's failure and turning to Ceith.

Lady Nasuada, Arya, Eragon and Saphira were waiting for him in the pavilion.

"Good morning." Hope greeted them, trying and failing to sound cheerful.

"'Morning." Eragon replied. "Let's begin shall we-"

Eragon was interrupted by one of the guards standing outside announcing "King Orik of the dwarves." A few seconds later Orik entered the tent an urgent look on his face. Immediately and without exchanging any pleasantries he said, "I was just informed of an intruder being caught in the tunnels under Farthen Dûr. The intruder was a human girl. A Vargrimst Knurla saw her wandering in the tunnels and reported it." Eragon explained to Hope that a Vargrimst Knurla is a clanless or banished dwarf before Orik continued.

"What will be done to her?" Nasuada asked.

"She will be interrogated and if we find any links to Galbatorix then we'll think of a suitable punishment," Orik replied. "However, there is something that my magicians found strange. She was able to cast spells without the use of the ancient language."

"What?!" Hope exclaimed suddenly his gray eyes widening in shock.

All heads turned to Hope. _Is it possible? _He thought. "What did she look like?"

Orik thought for a while remembering the messenger's descriptions, "She was about your age with orange-red hair and green eyes."

"Vanille?" Hope whispered.

_Is something wrong hatchling?_ Saphira asked him sensing the teen's confusion.

"The girl you're talking about is my friend, Vanille, Sh's a l'Cie too." Hope saw the perplexed expression on everyone's faces and tried to explain. "When I was somehow transported here, I thought that I was the only one. That my friends are still there, on Gran Pulse waiting for me." Hope paused to think then added, "maybe I was wrong and all my friends were transported here, like what happened to me." He turned to face Orik and asked in a hopeful tone, "Was there anyone else with her down in the caves?"

King Orik shook his head slightly before he spoke, "No, and she didn't mention anyone."

Hope was a little disappointed that four of his friends were missing, but he was extremely glad to know that Vanille was safe and that his other friends were probably waiting for him to find them somewhere in Alagaesia. "So when can I go see her?" said Hope eventually.

"No need to." Orik said and before Hope could protest he added "I'll order six of my best soldiers to escort her here. They should arrive within a week."

Hope was speechless with gratitude towards the Dwarf King but he managed to say, "Thank you your majesty. I'm in your debt."

Orik smiled in response and excused himself as he exited the tent now that the matter is resolved.

"So, how many of your l'Cie friends are there?" Nasuada asked.

"Five, including Vanille." Hope replied.

"And your friends are as powerful as you are and can summon these _Eidolons._"

Hope nodded his confirmation unsure where this was going.

"So we must make sure that Galbatorix doesn't get to them first…" Eragon trailed away knowing that everyone in the room understood what he was implying.

Nasuada turned to the teenager with what she hoped was a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, I'll have my best men searching for them throughout the empire and Surda." Then she turned to Arya, "The elves will also need to be notified."

"Thank you." Hope gave the occupants of the pavilion a small smile before leaving, wondering if he'd be able to find his friends in time. _ Maybe I'll find more about this situation from Vanille_, thought Hope before walking back in the direction of his tent. Plans of going home forgotten, for now.

* * *

**So what do you guys think? Will Hope and Vanille meet soon? Or will there be complications?**

**What about Snow, Light and Sazh?**

**Find out next time! XD**

**Love, RBR XX**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! I'm back! Though only to post this chapter... I was planning on leaving it until I finish my exams which start next week Dx but I read these lovely Reviews from NeoFuuka and Arcanemaster2324, So they're the reason you get this chapter now! Thank them! XD**

**Anyhow, As usual thanks for reading this story! It'll be wonderful to get more reviews though... Thanks to everyone who has favourited this story or put it on their Alert list.**

**Oh and things are going to start to change a bit in how the story flows starting this chapter, because it'll start switching between different POVs although they're all written in the third person. You will understand why as you read. Now on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned these two fandoms I wouldn't be writing this now, would I? **

* * *

Vanille woke up from her nap, it seemed like the only thing she'd been doing lately, in addition to reading. She knew that she was supposed to be a prisoner, but the 'cell' she's in gave her a completely opposite impression, it was lit by a strange sort of flameless lantern that she guessed was made by magic. She had a comfortable bed, that she now sat on, with clean sheets pushed against the rock wall opposite the door and a bookshelf filled with scrolls to read from, additionally she was given three meals a day, all mouth-wateringly delicious.

It was definitely a huge improvement to what she had been eating about a week ago in the tunnels. Just thinking about the insects and worms made her shudder as she remembered the way she had forced herself to eat them, feeling their slimy bodies getting crushed under her teeth and the revolting sensation of the fluid that seeped out onto her tongue when she started chewing them. She rubbed her mouth at the thought and felt the urgent need to wash her mouth so she reached out to the table next to her bed and grabbed a golden goblet of water and drank the refreshingly cool water.

_I'm really glad that that is over. _Vanille thought gratefully, recalling all the days she had groped through the pitch-black darkness of the caves, not knowing were Fang and the others were. All the nights she had slept on the rough rocks and all the days she'd felt utterly lost.

A knock on the door distracted Vanille from her line of thoughts and she looked up just as a dwarf lady dressed in luxurious clothes with long brunette hair entered her 'cell'. Vanille had met her before, the day she was captured, her name was Hvedra and she had introduced herself as the grimstcarvlross of dûrgrimst Ingeitum or The arranger of the smiths / metalworkers' clan.

"How are you feeling today? Is there anything you need?" She spoke in a soft gentle voice, which was the reason Vanille had liked her immediately.

"I'm fine thank you." Vanille replied with a small smile.

Hvedra returned her smile and said, "I am glad to hear that and I have very good news for you." She moved to sit down on the bed next to Vanille before continuing. "Do you know someone by the name of Hope."

Vanille gasped. _Hope is here?_ She thought. "Yeah he's my friend. Where is he? Is he alright?" the red headed girl asked, trying not to sound too eager but failing.

Hvedra noticed this and laughed, "He's more than just a friend I presume? You fancy him."

Vanille blushed in embarrassment because someone she barely knew could tell that she had a crush on Hope. _Did Hope know? _She thought suddenly in panic.

"Anyway, Hvedra continued, you'll be meeting him soon enough."

"Really!" The red headed girl really wanted to stand up and start bouncing around the room with excitement, but decided against it at the last second. _That would be a __very__ immature thing to do, especially in front of the dwarf lady, she'd think I was mad or something._

"Yes, so I want you to be ready to leave in an hour, six of our best soldiers will escort you to the Varden to meet your friend."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Was all Vanille could say in her state of utter joy.

Hvedra then excused herself saying that she had some urgent business to attend to before leaving.

Vanille threw herself back on the bed, and sighed to say that she was excited would have been a huge understatement.

* * *

Meanwhile somewhere deep in Du Weldenvarden, two l'Cie were making their way unknowingly towards the elves' capital city of Ellesméra. One was a young woman with light pink hair and intelligent blueeyes. She was alert and had her gun-blade out by her side, ready to strike should a monster appear from behind the vegetation that surrounded them. The other l'Cie was a man in his mid to late thirties with dark skin, brown eyes and a thick black afro from which occasionally, a small yellow bird's head would poke out. He also held his dual guns at the ready.

They had been walking heedlessly like this for many days now. Hoping against hope, that they would stumble on their missing friends. They were exhausted, the scenery hadn't changed since they found themselves in this forest. All around them huge pinewood trees with interlocking branches, formed a thick canopy overhead, surrounded them. It was dim under the green canopy except for the thin beams of sunlight, which rarely penetrated through the tangled branches above.

"Sazh?" The young woman asked after hours of walking in complete silence.

"Yeah, Lightning?" Sazh looked up and met Lightning's gaze. He saw the anxious expression on her face and knew immediately that it was not a good sign. It was very unlike her to be worried.

"I have this sense of… foreboding… with every step I take, like we're being watched," Light admitted.

It was exactly what Sazh had been feeling since they found themselves here, but he thought he was paranoid after all the close calls they had when monsters jumped at them seemingly out of nowhere in Archylte Steppe.

"Yeah, I've been feelin' the same." Sazh replied finally and Light motioned for him to be quite and stand still.

Sazh complied and watched as Lightning closed her eyes and concentrated. It seemed like hours later that she opened her eyes and scanned the bushes and trees around them. "Show yourselves!" Lightning called out at a tree a few feet away to her right. "I know you're there."

As soon as she uttered the last syllable something dashed from the behind the tree she was staring at, and ran towards her with inhuman speed, and she could just make out the human like form of her attacker and his long silver hair flapping in the wind as he charged her. Lightning barely had time to deflect the blow from the sword he was carrying, that was aimed at her neck, with her gun-blade.

Sazh saw that Lightning could barely hold off their attacker and aimed his dual guns at him, then lowered them again as a sharp sword's blade appeared in his line of vision and was held firmly against his exposed neck. A feminine voice whispered in his ear, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Light was engrossed in her fight with her opponent and concentrated on dodging or deflecting the flurry of slashes that her attacker constantly tried to land so she didn't notice what was happening behind her. After what seemed like hours of dueling, the silver haired elf stopped.

"Drop your weapon," he commanded in a musical voice then gestured to where Sazh was standing.

Light's eyes widened in surprise when she saw that her friend had a sword's blade millimeters away from his neck. She lowered her gun-blade slowly to the ground, knowing that there was nothing she could do with Sazh's life on the line.

The elf didn't move, he just pointed his hand at the gun-blade and it flew to his hand. _How come he can use magic? Is he a l'Cie too?_ Lightning wondered, but before she could ask the elf spoke.

"Who are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"My name's Lightning and the old man is Sazh." Light replied, somehow she got the sense that the man in front of her wasn't one to be trifled with.

"How did you manage to enter Du Weldenvarden without permission, _Lightning_."

The two friends were genuinely confused, they've never heard of that name before and were pretty sure there was no place by that name on Pulse and certainly not in Cocoon.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Said Light, then she added when she examined the elf's form "and I don't even know who or what you are."

The elf sighed with impatience. _Does she really not know what an elf looks like?_ The elf thought incredulously. _Or is she pretending not to?_

Finally the elf decided to tell them, "My name is Celdin and you are in The Warding Forest, north of Alagaesia. We intercepted you because you were heading in the direction of the elves', our, capital city Ellesméra."

_Elves?_ Light wondered skeptically,"So?" she said in what she hoped was a nonchalant tone.

"No one can enter Du Weldenvarden without our consent, we cast numerous spells to ensure that. Yet you two managed it without even us noticing, which made us considerably suspicious." It was the elf lady who answered.

"Listen we're sorry for trespassing, alright? We didn't mean to." Sazh spoke desperately not wanting the elves to think they were here to cause trouble. "Any way we can convince you that we're tellin' the truth."

The man looked at Sazh then smiled before saying, "Yes there is, if you let me into one of your minds and I see nothing suspicious in your thoughts, then we will welcome you to Ellesméra and wouldn't question you any further." The elf's smile vanished as he continued, "However, if you refuse or we find that you cannot be trusted we'll drag you to our queen who will surely order your demise."

"Fine, I'll do it." Said Lightning giving Sazh a look clearly saying that she wouldn't back down no matter how much he protested.

"Good." The elf's smile was back on his face, "Now clear your thoughts and relax, this will be unpleasant."

Light did what the elf told her and she nodded her head to show she was ready. Immediately she felt the elf's consciousness touch hers and with great effort she fought against the desire to turn around and run. She could see every memory the elf was examining, from memories of that night in Bodhum, to being branded and fighting Barthandelus. It was a strange and horrible experience, seeing all the things that she had failed to accomplish and knowing that the elf would probably find out things she didn't anyone to know. But it was too late to quit.

After a few minutes Celdin pulled away from Light's mind. His eyes were wide in awe and he had many questions he wanted to ask the duo but stopped himself knowing that Queen Islanzadí must be notified immediately. He turned to his companion and signaled for her to release the man, before speaking in a gentle tone "I apologize to have behaved in the way I did earlier, but you must understand that desperate times call for desperate measures, or whatever you humans say."

"What do you mean 'desperate times' ? " Sazh asked still not trusting the elf fully.

"I'll explain everything and answer any questions on our way to Ellesméra." Celdin said reassuringly then handed Light her gun-blade before he faced the woods and started walking with the elf lady beside him. Lightning and Sazh shared a resigned look before he shrugged and followed the pair with Light.

* * *

Snow opened his eyes to complete pitch-black darkness. He'd had that dream again, it started with him kneeling in front of Serah with a ring in his hand, the night of the fireworks in Bodhum. She had agreed to marry him and he stood up to hug her tightly like he always did only to see her turn to crystal before his very eyes. The memory brought tears to Snow's eyes and he blinked furiously several times to keep them from falling, knowing that Serah would have hated to see him this weak.

He was sitting on the rough rocky ground with his hands chained to a metal ring, bolted to the wall, above his head, the first day he had spent here he'd tried to free himself or break the chains but that only resulted in the chains cutting into his wrists and causing him greater suffering, he now tugged at them a few times half-heartedly, just to make sure. The cell he was kept in was completely bare and he couldn't help noticing the faint smell of death and decay that seemed to emanate from the very walls.

He tried to reach for the flow of magic inside him but he couldn't concentrate long enough to use it and reached the conclusion that he was drugged. Snow cursed himself for not being careful for the millionth time, since his carelessness had caused his capture.

It happened six days ago. He had mysteriously found himself alone in a forest clearing by a huge lake and decided to investigate his new whereabouts, hoping to find any sign of the other l'Cie. After hours of searching without success he decided to stay in the forest until he knew what to do next, fishing from the nearby lake for food and using the trees for shelter.

It was on day three that it had happened. He'd woken up at dawn and took his usual walk in the area, enjoying the sound of the chirping birds and the fresh morning air. Then out of nowhere he heard a scream and impulsively started to sprint towards where it came from, his heroic instincts overcoming his better judgment.

That was his first mistake.

He had run for what seemed like hours, during which he had passed the forest, not stopping even when the trees around him gave way to hard rocks and barren soil. Two figures loomed in front of him, behind them was a huge mountain of what seemed like black rock. He increased his speed till he stood about five meters away from them.

When he was close, he saw that the two figures were two men dressed in tattered clothes, and they were tied tightly with thick rope to wooden pole. They were the source of the screams he had heard earlier. As he approached the pair, their eyes fell on him. They were wide with fear and pleading with him to save them.

"Don't worry, I'll have you free in no time." He had said. Then started to work on untying the rope but after a few minutes of trying to get the knot to loosen without success, he stepped back and said, "fire." The rope immediately burned and the two men were free. They didn't even stop to thank him and instead darted away as soon as the ropes were undone. Maybe he should've run too. Maybe he wouldn't be here stuck in this cell if he had. Anyway, he had turned to leave only to find that he couldn't move. It was like he was paralyzed, he had fought and fought, but still he couldn't even tilt his head. Seconds later he became aware of heavy footsteps approaching him from behind. He couldn't turn to see who it was so he just waited until a figure appeared in his field of vision.

It was like something out of a horrible nightmare. The figure that stood in front of him was garbed in a black robe that covered its body with a hood pulled over its head. Snow immediately realized that the creature he was staring at wasn't human when he saw the hunched back and the round, almost luminous yellow eyes that were gazing at him like they were about to devour him. However, the most dreadful of all, was the sharp beak protruding from where its mouth was supposed to be. The creature moved closer till they were only inches apart and Snow could smell the horrid stench of decay that hung about the creature.

It had the desired effect.

Snow could feel himself slipping away and his eyelids became heavier with every second that passed, until finally he could not resist and he allowed himself to plunge into unconsciousness. The creature, Snow later found out was actually called a Ra'zac and their breath was capable of knocking a human being out.

Snow cursed himself another time for being so reckless. The door flew open at that exact moment and dim light seeped into the cell from a torch outside. His captor stood silhouetted in the doorway.

"What do you want?" Snow asked in what he hoped was a steely voice, glaring at the Ra'zac.

"You have a visssitor, human." The Ra'zac hissed in response, then moved to the side to allow a leaner figure into the cell. Snow noticed that the other figure was a young man about eighteen years old, with black hair and pale skin that stood out in the darkness of the room.

"Are you completely sure Ra'zac, I'd hate to report to King Galbatorix that you were wrong." The boy said.

The Ra'zac nodded his confirmation and said, "Yes, Murtagh."

"We'll see." Was all Murtagh said before he turned to face Snow, as if seeing him for the first time, which he was in a way. Snow didn't know what to expect, the boy was just standing there staring directly at him. Then he felt it, it was like alien thoughts have invaded his mind and he flinched suddenly, and then realization struck. It was Murtagh. He was the presence that Snow now felt moving through his memories and thoughts, pausing whenever he saw something that interested him then carrying on swiftly to another memory.

Snow tried to fight. He tried to concentrate on other things like the aching in his arms or the black rocks in his cell. But with his sluggish mind he couldn't and he felt like yelling in frustration.

The presence now paused on a memory and was examining it with great interest. It was of him carrying Hope on his back when they tried to resolve the conflict between them in Hope's hometown of Palompolum. A few minutes later Murtagh withdrew from his consciousness and he sighed in relief.

"What did you do?" Snow asked just as Murtagh turned to leave.

"I wanted information and I got it." Murtagh replied casually, then he felt an inexplicable urge to tell the man what his future held. "Yesterday, two thousand soldiers were killed by one person. A mere boy. That boy was interestingly…" He paused for effect. "Your friend Hope. I didn't have a face to match with the name but now I do thanks to you."

Snow's eyes widened in astonishment, Hope was here too. Then realized what Murtagh was implying, "Leave him alone." He said threateningly.

However Murtagh carried on, ignoring the man's threats. "With the help of your memories, I finally understand how he did it. And it would be great to have someone with his _potential_ on our side, of course we will use you and your Eidolons as well. No one would dare defy the King and the Varden will be eliminated." Murtagh's tone changed as he spoke and his eyes were glazed, like someone else was speaking through him and he was just a mere vessel.

"Hope will never work for people like you!" Snow snapped.

Murtagh smiled. "That may be true. But I'm sure he wouldn't want his friend to be tortured and killed a slow, painful death." He guffawed when he saw Snow's expression of pure shock.

Snow glared at the eighteen-year-old. But he had already turned away and was heading for the door, "give him only enough food and water to keep him alive." Murtagh told the Ra'zac before leaving. The Ra'zac followed locking the door behind him.

When he and Murtagh were standing in the corridor outside Snow's cell, he asked eagerly "May I have some time with him?"

Murtagh nodded. On his way back to where he left Thorn, he realized that he couldn't remember what happened after he scanned the prisoner's mind, but that didn't matter he had the information he wanted. Galbatorix will be pleased.

* * *

**Now you know what happened to the others! Well everyone execpt Fang, but don't worry, you'll be seeing her in the next chapter! **

**I am going to guiltily say that I enjoyed writing Snow's section a bit too much.. XD And poor him this doesn't even compare to what's going to happen next! Stay tuned to find out!**

**Love, RBR 3**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I Just want to apologize to you guys for the extremely long wait, so I made this chapter extra long, around 5 000 words!**

**And as always my thanks to the readers and everyone who's reviewed this Fanfic. The most special Thanks go to ****_sexyaxel, _****since she motivated me to continue updating this fanfic! **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize... Although I desperately wish I did... **

* * *

It was still early in the afternoon when Hope spotted Roran and Carn, sitting on a rock by the cooking tents, having lunch. The scent of roasted meat wafted his way and he heard his stomach grumble. He hadn't eaten anything since he woke up, because he was too eager to go back home, now he regretted it. He walked over to the two men and greeted them when he was close, "Good afternoon."

Carn almost fell off the rock and Roran froze in surprise. Then the blond man started speaking so quickly that his words were barely intelligible, "It didn't work? We're really sorry. Don't worry, I'll find another way and we'll get you home, you are not going to turn to Cie'th I promise. I'm so so sorry…" he carried on his rambling barely pausing for breath.

"Carn!" Hope exclaimed in annoyance and the man shut up immediately "I don't want to go home just yet-"

Roran chocked on his food and started coughing, while Carn stared at the teen like he was mad. "Are you sure you're ok. Maybe you hit your head while dueling with Arya today."

"I'm fine. Now will you please let me finish," Hope said impatiently. "I'm not leaving because I just found out that my friends are here, somewhere in Alagaesia and one of them is with the dwarves."

"Are you sure?" Roran asked skeptically after his coughing fit subsided.

"Yes, King Orik just informed me."

"What about the others?"

"Lady Nasuada will send people to look for them." Hope's stomach chose that moment to grumble again and the teen felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment.

Carn smirked as he led hope towards the tents, "Come on, let's find you something to eat before you eat us."

Carn and Hope entered the cooking tent then came back out a few minutes later. Each was holding a dish with roasted chicken in it and a piece of bread, which made Hope's mouth water. They sat on the same rock as before where Roran had waited for them and ate their meal in silence.

After they were done they made their way to the northern border of the camp because Roran had orders to check on the soldiers guarding the perimeter, Hope and Carn decided to tag along since they had nothing better to do.

When they reached the edge of the camp, Roran greeted the commander in charge and told him about the inspection he was ordered to carry out. The man didn't look too happy but was wise enough not to complain.

Carn and Hope hung back, arguing about random things such as which was worse falling of a high cliff or being trampled by a horde of wild horses. They were in a middle of a heated argument when a sentry shouted, "Someone is approaching camp."

Everybody present switched their gazes to the direction the soldier was pointing at. They could indeed see a figure approaching but it was hard to tell it's gender or race from this far. They waited tensely for a couple of minutes until the silhouette became clearer and clearer. It was a young woman, with raven black hair and slightly tanned skin. Hope's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the tattoo on her upper left arm and the bladed lance slung across her back.

"Fang!" He exclaimed then started running towards her.

Fang looked up in surprise when she heard her name and saw Hope running towards her.

"Hope? What're you doing here?" Fang asked as soon as he stopped in front of her.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking," Hope answered with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Fang laughed and ruffled his hair. Then said "Seriously Hope, what is this place? It looks like an army is camped out here."

"You have no idea." Hope muttered to himself then spoke loud enough for Fang to hear, "Come on, I'll introduce you to some friends I met here."

They walked together back to camp with all the soldiers staring at them, well they were actually staring at Fang and some were practically drooling. "Do they normally stare like this?" Fang asked feeling very uncomfortable being the center of attention. She readied herself to take action herself if they didn't stop.

But before Hope could answer the commander yelled, "Soldiers! Back to your posts immediately, if I catch anyone slacking off that person will wish they were never born after I'm done with them!"

That took care of the staring soldiers. Hope led Fang to the place where Roran and Carn were standing. "Fang, this is Roran and the man standing next to him is Carn."

She eyed the two men suspiciously but then she seemed to relax and said " It's a pleasure." Fang said.

"Believe me the pleasure is all mine," Carn replied over-eagerly.

Hope shook his head at his friend's antics. _If he knew about Fang's temper he wouldn't have even dared speak to her like that._

Fortunately for Carn, Fang didn't notice or if she did, she didn't show it. "Have you seen Vanille and the others?" Fang asked.

"Vanille should be arriving here in about a week. As for Light, Sazh and Snow, I don't know…."

"Lady Nasuada should be informed of your arrival." Roran said. Hope and Carn nodded in response.

They walked together in the direction of the red pavilion and Hope told Fang briefly everything that had happened to him while they were apart and about the war that is raging in Alagaesia, about the Dragon Riders and the other races living in Alagaesia. Carn and Roran added a few comments were they could, but otherwise remained silent. They noticed though that Hope avoided mentioning the torture he'd been through but made no comment, trusting the boy's judgment. Fang didn't interrupt them, memorizing as much as she could so that she can resort back to that information should she need it.

Hope finished his 'brief' summary of past events just as they approached the pavilion. Three soldiers were as usual standing guard and one of them, the Urgal, announced their presence and they entered after Lady Nasuada granted them permission. Surprisingly, no one else was in the pavilion except for Nasuada. She was sitting at the same chair as usual but this time there was a desk in front of it. On the desk was a map of Alagaesia with scrolls neatly placed to one side. She had been examining one of these scrolls and she looked up as the group entered.

"You wished to speak with me?" She asked her eyes lingered on Fang for a second but then they finally settled on Hope.

"Yes, ma'am." Hope answered and Fang snorted when she heard Hope say "ma'am" and he could see her smirk from the corner of his eye but he ignored her for now. "I thought you'd like to meet Fang, she's a l'Cie too."

"Welcome to the Varden, Fang" Nasuada said. "Now will you please shed some light on how you were you able to find us?"

"It was a coincidence, really" Fang started. "about a week ago I found myself in a forest surrounded by mountains. I searched the area thoroughly and couldn't find my companions so I decided to cross the mountains." Fang paused to gather her thoughts, "I didn't even consider crossing them on foot, that would have taken too long and when you're a l'Cie time is of the essence. Therefore I summoned Bahamut and we flew for hours, covering as much distance as we could before I finally ran out of energy. At least then we had cleared the mountains and I started walking south until I finally arrived here today."

"Did you spot anything strange or suspicious on your journey." Lady Nasuada finally asked after Fang finished her story.

The black haired l'Cie thought for a while before answering, "I don't know what your standard for weird in this place is after everything Hope told me, but I saw a red dragon flying over a lake and it seemed to me that it was headed towards a black mountain near the lake."

"Murtagh," Roran spoke for the first time since they entered."But what would he be doing in Helgrind, since that's the only mountain we know of that has a lake next to it. Eragon killed the remaining Ra'zac and I don't think there is anything left there that might be of an interest to the king."

Nasuada nodded her head, "It is definitely suspicious, but we cannot afford to send Eragon there again, not when we're always expecting an attack." She sighed heavily. "And any soldiers we send there will find it virtually impossible to climb up to the Ra'zac's lair."

"Then send me," Hope spoke the three words without even knowing why. He had suddenly felt the need to check this place out.

"No." Nasuada said firmly, "We can't risk you or Fang falling into the enemy's hand. If Galbatorix finds a way to use your powers against us then the Varden will be doomed. Not even Eragon and Saphira would be able to stop him then"

"Whatever," Hope said sulkily but inside he understood that what she was saying was right. Little did he know that he would deeply regret this decision later.

"Now you must leave. Fang you'll have to share the tent with Hope until we set up a new one for you tomorrow. Good night."

_It's not fair! Why does she get to sleep in your tent. _Carn thought to Hope in irritation.

_Because I knew her for a longer time and _Here Hope paused for effect, _I'm better looking than you are. _He thought smugly and received a light slap to the back of his head from Carn in response. Then he exited the tent with the others following behind.

Roran was about to leave too but Nasuada stopped him. "Please stay Roran." Roran nodded. "You had requested to meet me earlier today but I was too busy at the time. What do you want to tell me?"

Roran shifted uneasily then finally spoke the three words like they were poison, "Hope committed insubordination."

Lady Nasuada's expression cjanged from tired to serious instantly, "Why didn't you inform me of this as soon as you arrived yesterday. Do you question my leadership Stronghammer?" She said in a low calm voice but her eyes were aflame.

Roran quickly told her what happened and the reasons behind not telling her sooner. She calmed down a bit.

"What should we do? Obviously we can't whip him fifty times on the whipping post, he'd die from the pain. But we can't just do nothing, then the soldiers will think they can get away with insubordination. That will almost certainly be the Varden's fall" Roran told her.

"What do you suggest we do? someone has to be punished."

"I was thinking of taking Hope's place on the whipping post. He saved my life and that's the least thing I can do for him." Roran winced when he saw the stupefied expression on Nasuada's face.

"Are you _mad _Roran Stronghammer! Do you know how furious Eragon and the Carvahall villagers would be if I sentenced you to another fifty lashes." She rubbed her temples with her fingers in a circular motion as if trying to relieve a headache she just experienced. She sat in silence. Roran knew that she was fuming and couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze.

"Did you tell the men under your command about Hope's disobedience." Roran nodded, "What did they say?"

"They were not happy about it and said it wasn't fair that he gets punished for saving their lives."

"Good." Nasuada sounded relieved, "If they think that, then I don't think there is a need for punishment."

"Thank you, your ladyship." Roran exited the tent, he didn't have to tell Katrina after all. If she knew how close he came to being whipped again she'd have been sick with worry. However if she found out he'd more or less volunteered to be whipped she'd have killed him before the lashes did. Roran shuddered at the thought and quickly put it out of his mind.

* * *

Light woke up when sunlight, streaming down from the small gaps in the canopy above, hit her face. She knew it was time to wake up and opened her eyes carefully so the light wouldn't blind her. It was a relief for her to finally be able to see the sun after they had spent much of yesterday in gloomy darkness.

She sat up and saw that the two elves were already awake sitting on a fallen log and eating what looked like berries that they must have collected from nearby shrubs. Sazh however, lay snoring about two meters to her left. She sighed and crawled over to where the older man was sleeping then shook him gently. He didn't wake up, instead he snored even louder than before. Lightning shook her head in frustration and shook him harder this time but all he did was swat her hand away and turn his body away from her. The elves had stopped their meal and were watching Light in amusement as she bent down so that her mouth was inches away from the sleeping man's ear.

"Wake up!" She exclaimed into the sleeping man's ear who sat up straight so quickly that his head smashed into Lightning's. Lightning groaned and rubbed her forehead trying to ease the pain.

"Why'd you do that?" Sazh was now wide-awake and he sent Light an irritated look, which she responded to with a death glare.

The elves couldn't stop the cackles of mirth that escaped them when they saw the two hit each other. Their laughter sounded so beautiful that Light and Sazh were shocked at first and couldn't help grinning like idiots before regaining their composure.

After the incident Light and Sazh had their breakfast that also contained berries and fruits they found around their camp. Then they continued moving deeper and deeper into the forest. The two l'Cie noticed that the trees got larger and older the more distance they covered. Celdin had explained yesterday the situation in Alagaesia and Light and Sazh were shocked by how far away they were from home. Now Sazh wondered if he'd ever see his son again, the thought depressed him.

It was at midday when the trees finally started to thin out. The l'Cie now stopped between two huge trees, maybe two hundred feet tall, in shocked silence. Here thick beams of sunlight, since the trees had lessened, lighted the area. Therefore, they could clearly make out the thick patches of flowers that seemed to dominate most of the underbrush and when they looked closely they could barely see many pathways winding around tress, but generally leading deeper into the forest.

"Welcome to Ellesméra."The elf woman said in her melodic tone and as one the group started walking towards the city.

The strange shape of the trunks around them surprised Sazh, but as he drew closer to them he realized that they were in fact houses for the elves. "How'd you do that?" He asked Celdin, waving a hand at the tree houses.

Celdin smiled, he seemed to have loosened up now that he was home. "We sing to the trees in the ancient language, giving them our energy to mold them into the shape we desire."

Lightning suddenly tensed and stopped abruptly. It was like yesterday when she had sensed the elves, but this time it was worse, like hundreds of eyes boring into her. However Celdin didn't look nervous or alarmed so she relaxed a bit.

Celdin spoke a couple of words in a language that she didn't recognize. She guessed it must be the ancient language but whatever he said worked and one by one, elves started to emerge from behind the trees and bushes. They were all smiling but Sazh and Light saw the flicker of suspicion present in all the elves' eyes.

Words were exchanged in the ancient language between Celdin and the group of elves blocking their way. It was nerve-wracking for the two l'Cie to stand there not knowing what's being said while the elves decided their fate.

After what seemed like hours of arguing, the elves blocking their way parted and the group was able to continue along the cobbled pathway. At the end of the trail they climbed a set of steps that actually were the roots of a tree altered by magic. At the top was a gate embedded into a wall of saplings that swung open as soon as they were standing in front of it. The two elves entered and the l'Cie followed, though a bit hesitantly.

They were in a hall made out of several tree barks melded together to make the walls. Above them the branches interlocked forming a honeycomb like pattern occupied the ceiling, allowing golden rays of light from the sun to seep through. There were twelve chairs on either side of the hall, on them sat twenty-four elf lords and ladies. All were dressed in flowing robes with circlets of silver adorning their smooth brows. It was the elf woman sitting on a throne of knotted roots that grabbed the l'Cie's attention. She had midnight black hair and intelligent serious eyes and was garbed in a moss green tunic with a golden belt around her waist. Next to her was a curved rod with a crosspiece, perched on it a peculiarly white raven that seemed to scrutinize the l'Cie as soon as they entered.

Celdin and the other elf stepped forward and knelt in front of the Queen's throne. Sazh and Light knew that they had to do the same or risk insulting the elves, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it. They had never bowed to anyone, not to the sanctum and not to even the fal'Cie. Everyone in the hall was staring at them in disbelief, wondering why on earth the two humans were not bowing to their queen.

"Pardon us your majesty, we don't mean to offend you or your people" Sazh said and congratulated himself on how confident he sounded. "The circumstances we've been through force us to act this way. We've never bowed down to anyone and we are not about to start now."

A flicker of emotion appeared and disappeared so quickly that Sazh wasn't sure what it was or if it was even there on the queen's face. "Your names?" the elf queen asked in her cultured rich voice.

"I'm Sazh and that's my friend, Lightning."

"I am queen IslanzadÍ of the elves. And I would like to know what brought you here? And more importantly, how were you able to bypass all the spells that we have cast to stop intruders from entering our magnificent forest?"

"We don't know." It was Light who had spoken, "we're not from around here. Our home is a place called Cocoon and I reckon that it is a very long way from here. Everything that we know about this place, we have learned from Celdin" she gestured to the elf that now stood beside her. "We just found ourselves in your forest, like we've somehow been teleported here by some unknown force."

The Queen looked at Celdin for confirmation and he nodded saying, "I've examined her thoughts and she speaks the truth."

"Have you found anything suspicious?" She asked.

"No." Celdin confirmed.

The queen turned to Lightning and said "Continue."

"We came here because we're searching for our friends. We thought that maybe they're somewhere in this forest and we hoped that you might have any information concerning their whereabouts."

"Describe them for me."

Lightning described the other l'Cie as best as she could, wondering if it was even worth it. The Queen probably knew nothing, the forest is massive and would take years to search. After Light finished her description she went through her memories to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"Are you by any chance l'Cie?" the queen asked and the two l'Cie froze. _How did she know? _Sazh thought in shock, but he kept his expression neutral.

Sazh glanced at Lightning and she nodded. "Yes," He said slowly.

"Prove it."

Sazh looked unsure but then shrugged as if to say, what harm could it possibly do? Then he pulled the neck of his shirt down, revealing the brand on the top of his chest. The crowed was silent except for a few whispers, waiting for the Queen's response.

The Queen nodded and smiled, "I suppose then that you know a young man by the name of Hope."

"Yes, do you know where we could find him?" asked Light eagerly.

"He's with the Varden and he has been searching for you too."

Light had heard of the Varden from Celdin the day before in the forest. He said that they were some sort of rebel group that set out to overthrow the tyrant King. _How did Hope end up with those people?_ She wondered briefly.

"Thanks, your majesty" Sazh said sincerely, then added, "If you'd just give us some directions to the Varden and provisions, we will be on our way there."

The Queen actually looked shocked. "How do you intend to get there? It will take you seven days of traveling on foot, and four on horses and that would be without any stopping for rest. We can lend you two horses from our stables if you like."

Sazh shook his head and said, "Thank you for your generous offer but we will be using another method of transport."

IslanzadÍ signaled to Celdin to come forward and he did. They spoke quickly in the ancient language. After the queen was done he exited the hall along with his companion. The queen then turned her attention back to Sazh and Light, and said, "To get to the Varden you'll just have to travel south until you come across their camp. It shouldn't be hard, the camp is huge." She turned and drew an object from a table, made out of knotted roots like the stairs, and handed it to Light and said, "This compass is magically altered, just follow the direction the needle is pointing and it'll take you to the Varden."

"Thank you." Light said politely. She placed the compass in to one of her pockets and gave Sazh a look that clearly showed that it was time to leave.

Outside it was late in the afternoon and the two l'Cie made their way to the nearest clearing they could see.

"So how're we going to do this?" Sazh asked.

"I'll summon Odin and we'll ride him together as far as my strength allows, we should have cleared the forest by then. Afterwards, you'll summon Brynhildr and I'll ride with you. We'll keep switching till we find the Varden."

"Makes sense." Sazh shrugged

Lightning moved away from Sazh so she had enough space to perform the summoning. She was about to start when she heard a screech that sounded like "Wyrda!" The pair looked up to see a white raven flying towards them, it was the one they had just seen moments ago in the Queen's hall. "Wyrda!" It shrieked again before perching on a branch of a nearby tree. Suddenly without any warning the raven spoke:

"Beware, Beware of what lies ahead,

Beware of torture and bloodshed,

Beware of losing a dear friend,

Who's trapped deep in Helgrind."

"It talks!" Sazh muttered in surprise and he watched as the bird, having delivered its message, flew away. "What did it mean?"

"I don't know," Lightning replied slowly. "But I think it might be important, especially since he mentioned losing a friend." _And what is Helgrind?_ She thought in utter confusion and memorized the name, she had a feeling it was important somehow. "We'll deal with this later. We have to move out before the sun sets."

Light started the ritual by smashing the rose shaped crystal. "Odin" she muttered, and seconds later her Eidolon appeared. She commanded it to switch to his final form, which was similar to a horse's, then Light hauled her body on to the horse's back and extended an arm to Sazh to help him climb up too.

Lightning was about to give Odin the order to move when she spotted Celdin approaching the clearing. If he was surprised to see the Eidolon he didn't show it, in his right hand he was holding some sort of sac that he handed to Lightning when he was close enough to.

"This was as much as we could gather for you in the little time we had. You won't find any meat or dairy products since we are, I believe the term in your language is vegetarians."

Sazh groaned inwardly but Light nodded her thanks. "Good bye Celdin and thanks for everything."

"May the stars watch over you, Sazh and Lightning."

Odin took off at incredible speed, stealthily dodging trees and fallen logs and before they knew it the l'Cie had left Ellesméra far behind.

* * *

Pain shot through Snow's body like lightning, instantly setting his skin on fire and numbing his brain. Hot blood poured from the gash, coloring his back in crimson red. He desperately wanted to scream, to release the pent up agony in his body, but he didn't. Instead He bit his lip defiantly, he wasn't going to let the monster gain satisfaction from seeing him suffer.

He heard a hiss as the whip flew through the air another time before landing on his bare back. Snow tried to shrink away from the lash, but the chains that bound his feet to the ground and his hands to the low, rocky ceiling soon stopped him. The pain, this time more intense, caused Snow to bite his lip so hard that it started bleeding. The Raza'c paced behind Snow, flicking the whip so that it made the dreaded hissing sound. Then watched in satisfaction as the man cringed away expecting a blow that didn't come. Then, Just as Snow started to relax another lash ripped the skin on his back. This time he couldn't stop the scream that escaped him echoing throughout the empty cave that functioned as the Raza'c's torturing room.

The Raza'c cackled, an ugly sound like dragging fingernails across a blackboard. He always enjoyed torturing his prey before he finished them off. Sadly that was not the case with this particular prisoner, Galbatorix wanted him alive and the Raza'c didn't dare disobey a direct order from the king. He drew his hand back further with the whip clenched in it, then lashed one more time at Snow's ruined back. He relished the screams and howls of anguish that came as he whipped the man again and again and again.

Snow didn't know how long he had been in that cave. Time seemed to have little meaning in his state of constant mind numbing pain. Snow's throat was raw from all the screaming he'd done and his back was still bleeding profusely. It seemed that the Raza'c has stopped, probably to let him rest, Snow hoped. He heard the Raza'c move and tensed in anticipation of another blow. It never came, instead the Raza'c had moved to stand in front of the l'Cie. Snow didn't bother to look up at the monster's face and anyway he didn't have the energy.

"You think thisss hurtsss," The Raza'c hissed and Snow flinched when he smelled the stench of death and decay in the Raza'c's breath. "Thisss is nothing compared to what I can do to you."

Snow didn't reply. He felt the sweat that soaked his blond hair seep across his face and the ground sway underneath him. It was a struggle just to remain upright. "I will enjoy making your little friend sssuffer. Maybe I will whip the ssskin of hisss back till he ssstarts begging for death," The Raza'c taunted. Of course it was a lie, his master won't let him touch the boy. He needed him intact. Snow fell for the taunt however, and lunged at his tormentor. He didn't even come close and only succeeded in making the chains dig into his wrists and ankles, causing them to start bleeding, much to the Raza'c's pleasure.

"Don't you dare hurt him," Snow said threateningly, but with his deathly pale face and bloody back he sounded and looked pathetically weak. The Raza'c let out another screech of laughter.

"Who isss going to ssstop me? You?" The monster smiled maliciously.

"Please…leave him alone." Snow whispered his blue eyes pleading with the monster. All he got as a reply was more screeching laughter and a punch across the face.

The Raza'c decided that he'd had enough fun for one day so he untied the man from the chains binding him to the ceiling and the ground, but kept the ones that bound his wrists. He wasn't taking any chances even if the blonde haired man could barely walk.

Snow was thrown roughly into his cell. His arms were wrenched up and tied to the ring above him like before. The Raza'c left afterwards, slamming the door shut with a loud _thud_ and plunging his captive in complete darkness. That was the last sound Snow heard before he passed out.

* * *

**Sorry about the mix up that happened last time... I uploaded the same chapter because I was in a hurry and didn't really check. Yup.. So I'd love to see some reviews... Please? XD**

**Love, RBR**


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